Present-Day  Conditions 
in  China 

By  MARSHALL  BROOMHALL.  B.A. 

BdltoHat  Secniary,  China  lalaad  MIsaloa 
WITH   MAPS.   DIAGRAMS.  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS 


THIBET 


ITALY 


U.S.  a: 


32.000.000 


76,000,000 


>  YELLOW 
SEA 


EUROPEAN  RUSSIA. 


S'^,  000. 000 


BURMAW' 


TONG-KINO 


SPAIN  &)  PORTUGAL        23.000.000 


FRANCE  +  ALGERIA. 

TUNIS  &;  MADAGASCAR  47,000,000 


AUSTRIA  ^;  BRAZIL 


4O0O0.000 


ANAM 


CHINA 
SEA 

405,000.000  Total 


13.000,000 


Cfhina*s  Millions  equal  the  Total  Population  of  all  the  Countries 
shown  on  the  Map, 


BV 
3415 
.B746 
1908 


REVELL  COMPANY,  New  York,  Chicago,  Toronto 

CHINA  INLAND  MISSION.  Philadelphia,  Toronto 

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Present -Day  Conditi 
in  China 

Notes  Designed  to  show  the   Moral 

and   Spiritual  Claims  of  the 

Chinese  Empire 


MARSHALL   BROOMHALL,  B.A, 

EDITORIAL    SECRETARY,    CHINA    INLAND    MISSION 


FLEMING   H.  REVELL   COMPANY 

NEW  YORK,  CHICAGO,  TORONTO 

CHINA  INLAND  MISSION 

PHILADELPHIA,  TORONTO 
1908 


PKEFACE 

The  object  of  the  following  pages  is  to  give  in  brief  outline, 
not  for  the  specialist  but  for  the  general  reader,  some 
particulars  of  the  great  and  rapid  movements  which  are 
taking  place  to-day  within  the  Chinese  Empire.  Nearly 
every  event  referred  to  has  happened  within  the  last  twelve 
or  fifteen  months.  This  fact  alone  reveals  the  rapidity 
and  importance  of  the  changes  which  are  at  present  in 
progress. 

The  chapters  though  only  notes  are  designed  to  show  the 
claims  of  China  upon  the  sympathy  of  those  who  desire  the 
moral  and  spiritual  welfare  of  the  Empire.  If  they  lead 
the  reader  to  a  more  careful  and  thorough  study  of  one  of 
the  greatest  movements  of  history,  and  to  deeper  interest  in 
and  sympathy  with  the  Chinese  people,  and  to  efforts  and 
sacrifice  for  their  evangelisation,  the  object  of  this  publica- 
tion will  have  been  realised. 

Just  as  we  go  to  press,  the  Times  of  April  15  and  16 
publish  two  remarkable  telegrams  from  Dr.  Morrison,  their 
correspondent  in  Peking,  stating  that  the  Chinese  Govern- 
ment have  cancelled  the  Imperial  rescript  of  March  15, 
1899,  which  granted  official  rank  to  the  Koman  Catholic 
hierarchy,  the  priests  to  rank  as  prefect  and  bishops  as 
Viceroy.     This  means  that   1100   Eoman  Catholic  priests 


iv  PRESENT-DAY  CONDITIONS  IN  CHINA 

and  46  bishops  will  be  deprived  of  their  official  rank  in 
China.  Few  steps  taken  by  China  recently  are  more 
significant  than  this.  It  will  be  well  known  that  the 
Protestant  Missionary  body  had  previously  declined  to 
accept  any  official  status. 

MARSHALL  BROOMHALL. 

China  Inland  Mission, 
April  16,  1908. 


CONTENTS 


Introductory    .... 

China  Moving,  but  Whither  ? . 

The  Reform  Movement     . 

The  New  Spirit  of  Nationalism 

The  Forces  of  Disorder  . 

China  and  the  World 

From  the  Chinese  Point  of  View 

•To  Keep  Them  Alive  in  Famine' 

The  Best  Book  for  China 

China's  Spiritual  Destitution  . 

A  Call  to  Sacrifice 


PAOE 
1 

4 
8 
15 
18 
21 
26 
35 
42 
47 
55 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

Map  of  Honan     .......   Inside  front  cover 

Historical  Chart viii 

"  The  Peking  Women's  Gazette  " 

5 

Chinese  Postal  Map      ....... 

6 

Map  showing  where  Opium  is  Grown  in  China 

11 

Bible  Circulation  in  China    ...... 

45 

The  British  Museum  Library         ..... 

46 

Map  of  Yunnan  ........ 

50 

John  Bunyan       .          .          .          . 

52 

Map  showing  Location  of  Missionary  Force  in  China 

55 

Map  of  Chihli Inside  bcu 

^k  cover 

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INTRODUCTORY 

' '  And  He  made  of  one  every  nation  of  men  for  to  dwell  upon  the  face  of 
the  earth,  having  determined  their  appointed  seasons,  and  the  bounds  of 
their  habitation  ;  that  they  should  seek  God." — Acts  xvii.  26,  27. 

With  this  summary  of  the  Divine  philosophy  of  history  in 
mind,  the  story  of  China  becomes  one  of  absorbing  interest. 
If  it  be  true  of  nations,  to  adopt  Dr.  "Weymouth's  translation, 
that  God  has  fixed  "  a  time  for  their  rise  and  fall,  and  the  limits 
of  their  settlements,"  or,  according  to  Dean  Alford,  that  God  has 
"prescribed  to  each  nation  its  space  to  dwell  and  its  time  of 
endurance,"  the  history  of  that  nation  which  comprises  nearly 
one  quarter  of  the  human  race,  and  whose  "  time  of  endurance  " 
has  exceeded  that  of  any  other  Empire,  and  which  to-day  is 
"  rousing  itself  from  the  torpor  of  ages  under  the  influence  of 
new  and  powerful  revolutionary  forces,"  cannot  but  be  of 
commanding  interest  and  importance. 

What  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  were  to  Europe, 
the  nineteenth  and  twentieth  centuries  promise  to  be  for  Asia. 
With  the  fall  of  Constantinople  before  the  Turks  in  1453,  a 
flood  of  Greek  literature  swept  over  Europe,  awakening  the 
sluggish  and  exhausted  intellectual  energies  of  the  Middle  Ages ; 
while  the  recent  fall  of  the  exclusive  policy  of  the  Far  East  has, 
in  its  turn,  opened  the  flood-gates  of  Western  learning  upon  the 
peoples  of  the  Orient.  Shall  Asia  experience  merely  an 
Intellectual  Renaissance  or  a  Spiritual  Reformation  ?  Shall  the 
East   merely  conform    to    Western    scientific  principles    or   be 

B 


2  PRESENT-DAY  CONDITIONS  IN  CHINA 

transformed  by  the  renewing  of  the  Holy  Spirit  ?  These  are 
questions  which  naturally  arise  in  the  minds  of  thoughtful  men. 
That  the  time  of  China's  visitation  has  arrived  is  abundantly 
clear,  and  only  blindness  to  God's  purpose  for  the  world,  and 
callous  indifference  to  the  immortal  welfare  of  countless  millions 
of  souls,  can  permit  a  spirit  of  wicked  apathy  and  indifference  to 
exist  in  presence  of  such  tremendous  issues. 

Not  only  does  Scripture  warrant  the  belief  that  we  are 
approaching  the  end  of  the  present  age,  but  history  also.  The 
early  civilisations,  limited  to  centres  situated  upon  the  great 
waterways  of  the  Euphrates  and  Nile,  etc.,  gave  way  to  the 
larger  world  surrounding  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  and  that  in  its 
turn  to  the  yet  larger  world  across  the  Atlantic ;  while  now 
man's  human  horizon  is  nothing  less  than  the  whole  of  the  two 
hemispheres. 

And  with  this  enlarged  horizon  has  advanced  the  Church's 
responsibility.  While  Dr.  Morrison  found  nearly  one  hundred 
years  ago  a  closed  China,  that  country — with  all  the  Far  East, 
if  Tibet  be  excluded — is  now  open  to  the  Gospel.  The  present 
situation  would  to  him  have  appeared  almost  incredible,  as  the 
limitations  and  difficulties  which  he  confronted  appear  almost 
incredible  to  us. 

The  diagrammatic  map  on  the  cover  helps  one  to  appreciate 
what  the  movement  of  a  nation  like  China  means.  Here  is  a 
population  greater  than  the  combined  populations  of  Japan, 
Great  Britain,  Italy,  United  States  of  America,  European  Russia, 
Spain  and  Portugal,  France,  with  Algeria,  Tunis,  and  Madagascar, 
Austria  and  Brazil,  Canada,  Norway  and  Sweden. 

To  appreciate  the  progress  of  the  Gospel  and  the  missionary 
situation  as  it  exists  to-day,  some  knowledge  of  the  general 
trend  of  events  in  the  country  is  absolutely  necessary.  The 
religious  awakening  has  been  "  set  in  a  framework  of  political, 
intellectual,  and  economic  changes,  and  cannot  be  disentangled 
from  its  surroundings  without  danger  of  mutilation." 

The  Boxer  crisis  and  the  martyrs  of  1900;  the  collapse  of 
China  and  the  successes  of  Japan,  with  the  defeat  of  Russia,  are 
events    which    have    deeply   affected    China.     The    desire    for 


INTRODUCTOEY  3 

Western  learning,  the  flocking  of  Chinese  students  to  Japan, 
the  return  of  these  students,  and  the  entry  of  Japanese  Professors, 
the  enormous  circulation  of  modern  literature,  the  building  of 
railways,  the  extension  of  telegraph  lines,  the  growing  power  of 
the  native  press,  the  reform  movement,  and  many  other  kindred 
factors  have  profoundly  influenced  the  national  spirit  and  altered 
the  conditions  of  missionary  activity. 

For  this  reason  the  following  pages  are  devoted  to  a  rapid 
survey  of  the  present  situation.  What  would  the  story  of 
Nehemiah  be  without  its  background  of  history,  or  of  Daniel 
and  other  of  God's  servants  without  the  knowledge  of  their 
difficulties,  their  enemies,  and  their  temptations.  These  surely 
enable  us  to  magnify  the  grace  of  God  in  them.  The  object  of 
the  following  pages  is  to  help  the  reader  to  see  the  missionary  at 
work  and  the  native  Christian  in  his  real  surroundings ;  to  help 
him  recognise  their  needs  and  trials ;  to  see  the  convert  humbly 
yet  boldly  confessing  Christ  in  face  of  shame  and  opposition ; 
and  to  sympathise  with  a  nation  struggling  upwards  toward 
better  things  and  battling  bravely  against  the  curse  of  opium 
and  other  evils. 

If  these  pages  can  do  this,  then  surely  they  should  call  forth 
more  intelligent  and  sympathetic  prayer  and  help  for  that  great 
country,  for  its  rulers,  for  the  maintenance  of  peace,  for  its 
Christian  workers  and  growing  Church. 


II 


CHINA   MOVING,    BUT   WHITHER? 

' '  Do  you  imagine  that  the  period  of  tutelage  is  going  to  pass  without  seeing 
the  Chinese  mind  and  spirit  and  heart  beset  by  rival  ideas  and  contending 
influences  ?  .  .  .  Never  was  there  a  greater  opportunity  before  the  Christian 
Church  of  turning  the  energies  of  a  reborn  civilisation  Godwards  ;  but  the 
penalty  will  be  terrible  in  the  event  of  failure  to  do  that." — Rev.  Alex. 
CONNELL,  B.D. 

Old  China  is  passing  away  for  ever.  Geography  alone  is 
convincing  her  that  she  is  not  the  Middle  Kingdom  and  all 
other  nations  barbarians.  Science  is  shattering  her  ancient 
superstitions  and  present  system  of  idolatry.  History  is  making 
it  evident  that  their  Emperor,  called  by  them  "  The  Son  of 
Heaven,"  is  not  the  only  ruler.  From  the  downfall  of  these 
ancient  theories  and  beliefs,  a  new  China  is  emerging.  But 
what  will  that  China  be  ? 

"  Civilisation  is  good  and  can  effect  much,  but  it  cannot 
regenerate  character.  Philosophy  is  good  :  it  can  teach  many 
things,  but  it  cannot  satisfy  the  mind.  The  latest  discoveries 
of  Science  are  wonderful  ;  they  may  transform  man's  surround- 
ings, but  they  cannot  bring  peace  to  his  conscience.  By  all 
means  let  a  Christian  people  give  of  its  best,  but  let  the  Church 
see  that  first  and  foremost  it  sends  the  full  Gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ." 

Eleven   years   ago  China    had   onlj  200   miles  of    railway ; 

to-day  she  has  3746  in  full  use  and  1622  under  construction, 

with  much    more   projected.     During    the    past   year  she   has 

I  purchased  for  reconstruction  the  light  military  railway  running 

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This  is  probably  the  only  daily  newspaper  in  the  world  for  women  edited  by  a  woman.     The  four 
large  characters  signify ithe  title,  "The  Peking  Women's  Gazette."    This  specimen  is  from  the  220th  issue. 


6  PEESENT-DAY  CONDITIONS  IN  CHINA 

from  Sinmingfu  to  Mukden  for  £160,000.  She  opened  the 
Shanghai-Nanking  Kailway  as  far  as  Chinkiang  on  October  15,^ 
and  the  line  to  Taiyuanfu,  the  capital  of  Shansi,  on  November  6. 
The  branch  line  from  Kaifengfu,  the  capital  of  Honan,  to 
the  Peking-Hankow  trunk-line  was  completed  earlier,  and  agree- 
ments for  other  railways  have  been  subsequently  arranged. 

That  these  railways  may  be  a  blessing  to  China  few  would 
deny,  for  her  resources  need  development  and  her  means  of 
commixnication  extending  for  the  avoidance  of  famine.  But 
that  these  railways  will  be  without  evil  few  would  aflEirm.  It  is 
already  too  abundantly  evident  that  no  sooner  is  a  line  opened 
than  undesirable  elements  at  once  appear.  While  facilitating 
much  that  is  for  China's  good,  they  also  become  the  ready 
channels  for  new  evils  and  aspects  of  Western  civilisation  of 
which  none  can  but  be  ashamed.  The  ignorance  of  the  outer 
world  has  no  doubt  been  broken  down,  but  it  is  still  true 
of  some  things,  "  Where  ignorance  is  bliss,  'tis  folly  to  be 
wise." 

In  the  same  way  the  telegraph  wire  is  being  linked  up,  and 
new  Post  Offices  opened,  throughout  all  China.  More  than 
34,000  miles  of  wire  connect  the  most  distant  yamens  with 
Peking,  and  a  Danish  engineer  has  lately  been  appointed  for 
the  extension  of  the  line  to  Lhassa.  More  than  2000  Post 
Offices,  which  during  1906  handled  113,000,000  articles,  are 
opened  throughout  the  Empire. 

I  Some  two  hundred  daily  papers  are  now  published  where 
a  few  years  ago  none  existed,  thus  making  the  reader  in  the  far 
interior  acquainted  with  the  latest  movements  in  Europe.  The 
Peking  Gazette  itself  has  been  changed  in  name  and  enlarged  in 
size,  while  machinery  is  being  imported  into  Lhassa  for  the 
commencement  of  a  public  press. 

The  Anti-Footbinding  Movement  has  entered  upon  a  new 
stage,  having  passed  from  the  guidance  of  European  and  American 
ladies  to  the  control  of  a  number  of  enlightened  and  influential 
Chinese  gentlemen,  among  whom  are  Taotai  Shen  and  Admiral 
Sah.  Decrees  have  been  issued  permitting  change  of  custom  in 
'  The  whole  line  to  Nauking  was  opened  on  April  1,  1908. 


^^Hn^^i^K 


Reduced  Facsimile  of  the  Chinese  Postal  Map  of  the  Province  of  Honan. 

In  1906  there  were  no  fewer  than  2096  modern  post,  offices  in  China,  which  handled  113  million 

articles.    The  courier  routes  amounted  to  51,000  miles,  boat  routes  to  6000  miles,  and  railway  routes  to 

about  4000  miles. 

To  face  page  6. 


CHINA  MOVING,  BUT  WHITHEE?  7 

funerals,  marriage,  and  dress,  and  perhaps  most  strange  of  all, 
the  Western  love  of  sport  has  taken  possession  of  the  erstwhile 
decorous  Chinese  student. 

The  well-known  and  aged  Viceroy  Chang  Chihtung  has 
recently  celebrated  the  Empress  Dowager's  birthday  by  a  great 
inter-school  field  day,  when  some  fifty  schools  and  colleges 
competed  in  athletics  and  sport,  while,  more  remarkable  still, 
the  Union  Medical  College  at  Peking  actually  celebrated  the 
birthday  of  Confucius  by  a  football  match.  Eevolt  from  ancient 
ideals  could  hardly  go  further. 

Can  any  Christian  contemplate  the  prospect  of  this  people 
breaking  away  from  their  ancient  and  cherished  past — not 
knowing  whither  they  are  tending,  nor  who  are  their  best  guides, 
nor  what  is  their  safe  goal — without  being  deeply  moved  ?  Rival 
voices  are  calling,  rival  prospects  attracting,  and  rival  claims 
striving  for  the  mastery  of  this  people,  who  constitute,  in  popula- 
tion at  least,  the  greatest  factor  in  the  world's  life. 

China  is  moving — but  whither  ?  Upwards  to  God  or  down- 
wards to  evil ;  onward  to  blessing  or  backward  to  a  worse 
condition  than  the  past  ?  Who  shall  estimate  the  possibilities 
of  benefit  or  loss  to  China  and  the  world  from  the  present 
movements,  and  who  shall  measure  the  responsibility  of  those 
who  can  now  help  to  afi'ect  China's  destiny  ?  To  nations  as  to 
men  there  is  a  day  of  visitation.  Shall  China  in  this  her  day 
know  the  things  that  belong  unto  her  peace  1 


Ill 

THE  EEFORM   MOVEMENT 

' '  History  knows  nothing  of  revivals  of  moral  living  apart  from  some  new 
j  religious  impulse.     The  motive  power  needed  has  always  come  through  leaders 
who  have  had  communion  with  the  Unseen." — Professor  T.  M.  Lindsay. 

So  rapidly  has  the  Reform  Movement  advanced  in  China,  that 
men  who  had  to  flee  the  country  ten  years  ago  as  ultra-radicals 
are  to-day,  by  the  advanced  reformers,  regarded  as  reactionaries. 
"  China,"  says  Mr.  Mott,  "has  made  greater  progress  in  the  last 
five  years  than  any  other  country  in  the  world.  She  has  made 
a  more  radical  adjustment  to  modern  conditions  than  has  any 
other  nation  in  the  same  period  of  time."  For  a  nation  to  pass 
within  a  few  years  from  the  days  of  the  Crusaders  to  the 
twentieth  century  "  is  a  feat  of  mental  and  sociological 
gymnastics  not  devoid  of  danger."  Such  a  leap  is  to  risk 
failure,  and  failure  means  nothing  less  than  chaos. 

Mr.  Lutley,  C.I.M.  Superintendent  in  Shansi,  writes:  "The 
alarming  growth  of  the  spirit  of  revolution,  largely  fostered 
and  developed  by  students  in  Japan,  has  led  to  risings  of  a 
serious  nature  in  several  parts  of  the  Empire.  Revolutionary 
tracts  and  pamphlets  have  secretly  been  widely  disseminated 
throughout  all  the  provinces.  The  literary  merit  of  much  of 
this  literature  has  been  of  a  high  order,  has  been  widely  read 
and  discussed  among  all  classes,  and  has  made  a  deep  impression. 
So  much  so  that  during  the  summer  and  early  autumn,  there 
was  a  general  spirit  of  expectancy  that  a  far-reaching  revolution 
was  about  to  take  place. 

"  The  prompt  and  energetic  action  of  the  provincial  authorities, 
combined  with  the  increased  efficiency  of  the  national  army  both  in 

8 


THE  REFOEM  MOVEMENT  9 

arms  and  discipline,  have  through  God's  mercy  prevented  any- 
general  outbreak,  and  have  secured  to  the  country  a  large 
measure  of  peace  and  security." 

The  Educational  Reform 

The  general  disaffection  among  Chinese  students  in  Japan 
has  led  the  Chinese  Government  to  cease  employing  those  who 
return  from  that  country,  with  the  result  that  a  larger  number 
of  scholars  have,  during  the  past  year,  gone  to  Europe  and 
America.  The  appointment  to  official  posts  of  a  number  of 
students  who  had  completed  their  course  of  study  in  political 
economy  and  the  modern  science  of  politics  in  the  Chinshih 
College,  founded  in  1905,  has  stimulated  others  in  the  pursuit 
of  Western  learning. 

A  Chinese  prince,  the  son  of  Prince  Ching,  has  resigned  his 
official  post  to  study  in  Germany  and  England,  while  many 
other  students  have  come  to  this  and  other  countries — one  party 
of  twenty-five  graduates  from  the  Shansi  University  being  among 
the  number.  These  men  had  all  obtained  their  M.A.  degree, 
and  sailed  for  England  in  May  1907  to  enter  upon  a  period  of 
six  years'  study  of  special  subjects.  The  Viceroy  of  Nanking  has, 
however,  taken  the  most  radical  step  of  all,  in  the  sending  of 
four  women  students  to  the  Wellesley  College  in  America.  These 
are  the  first  lady  Chinese  students  officially  sent  abroad  for  study. 

In  China  itself  the  educational  programme  so  eagerly  and 
energetically  entered  upon  some  three  years  ago  has  not  been 
carried  through.  Through  lack  of  funds,  efficient  teachers,  and 
proper  discipline,  many  of  the  schools  have  either  failed  or 
deteriorated  into  hot-beds  of  lawlessness  and  revolution.  It  is 
to  be  feared  that  many  of  them  were  opened  by  the  officials 
with  the  object  of  self-enrichment  through  the  confiscation  of 
property  or  the  levying  of  fresh  taxes,  and  no  serious  attempt 
has  been  made  to  provide  for  their  permanent  upkeep. 

Apart  from  the  large  coast  towns  and  central  cities,  education 
throughout  the  country  is,  generally  speaking,  in  a  highly 
unsatisfactory  condition,  and  this  fact  gives  to  the  Mission 
school  its  great  opportunity  and  responsibility. 


10  PEESENT-DAY  CONDITIONS  IN  CHINA 

Bishop  Moule  of  Mid-China,  in  A  Retrospect  of  Sixty  Years,  has 
some  earnest  and  weighty  words  on  this  subject.  Speaking  of 
the  great  change  which  has  taken  place  in  the  national  system 
of  competitive  examination  he  says : — 

"  The  great  educational  system  that  goes  had  its  faults  and 
the  Confucian  ethics  had  their  deficiencies,  but  for  the  mass  of 
the  people  at  present  it  is  Confucian  morality  or  none,  since 
whatever  else  is  accepted  from  the  West  by  way  of  education, 
\  it  does  not  embrace  our,  that  is  to  say,  the  Christian  morality. 
...  It  is  on  this  account  that  I  long  far  more  than  I  used  to 
do  to  see  the  Church  in  the  West,  under  whatever  denomination, 
roused  to  the  duty  of  a  really  generous  expenditure  of  her 
money  and  of  her  best -equipped  sons  and  daughters  on  the 
effort  to  seize  the  critical  moment." 

It  may  not  be  out  of  place  here  to  continue  from  the  same 

book  a  further  quotation  which  contains  a  gentle  but  serious 

warning,  which  all  who  are  concerned  in  educational  work  will 

do  well  to  bear  in  mind. 

I        "I  confess  to  the  fear,"  he  writes,  "  that  high  as  our  aims  have 

I  always  been  in  the  colleges  and  medical  schools  we  have  been 

.   enabled  to  open,  the  results  have  not  corresponded  to  our  aims. 

5    Good  scholars  and  mathematicians,   good    schoolmasters,  good 

I    doctors    have    been  produced,  but  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  the 

I  earnest    and    educated    evangelist    and    pastor,    the    medical 

I  missionary,  is  as  rare  as  he  was  ten  years  ago ;  rarer  perhaps  in 

.:  view  of  the  widening  field  and  the  multiplying  flocks.     Am  I 

I  mistaken  in  surmising  that  the  teaching  force  has  been  inade- 

♦  quate,  not  certainly  to  impart  skill  and  scholarship,  for  they  are 

'  in  evidence,  but  at  the  same  time  to  impart  character  and  to 

I  encourage  whole-hearted  spiritual  devotion  by  example  1 " 

The  Opium  Keform 

The  recent  anti-opium  campaign  inaugurated  by  the  edict 
of  September  1906,  a  campaign,  according  to  the  Times,  "so 
formidable  that  the  strongest  of  Governments  might  flinch 
before  it,"  has  been  steadily  and  determinedly  maintained.  By 
Imperial    Edicts   in   May  and  June   1907,  and  more    recently 


The  Figures  represent  the  curruiLaZ 
■prodbuxUM>jju  of pvcuZs  61' opLVLTn  ur 
eccch.  Prcn/vrLce  . 

ApicuZ  IS  JSSh  ILs. 


MANCHURIA 
I5,POO 


CHIHLI 
10.000 

ope/imq 


KANSO 

5.000 


"SHEN 

SI 
10000 


SZECHUAN 

200.000 


'SHANi 

SI 
5.000 


HONAN 
5,000 


HUPEI 

4-.000 


'^SHANTUNG, 
10,000 


vKIAfteSO 
.ANHUO  5.0C 
3,000 ' 


\anghai 


YUNNAN 
30.000 


KWEJ 

CHOW 

15,000 


HUNAN 

3,000 


KVVANGSI 

3,000 


KIANGSl 

500 

/FUKIEN 
2,000  ^ 


^Uongkony 


CHEKIAfG 

s.ooi 


English   Miles 


O    so    100        200        300       400 


Map  showing  where  Opium  is  grown  in  China 

The  map  is  reproduced  from  the  British  Government  White  Paper,  China,  No.  1,  1908.  Piculs  are  nearly 
equivalent  to  chests.    The  figures  represent  '^he  annual  production  of  piculs  of  opium  in  each  province. 

"  We  English,  by  the  policy  we  have  pursued,  are  morally  responsible  for  every  acre  of  land  in  China  which 
is  withdrawn  from  the  cultivation  of  grain  and  devoted  to  that  of  the  poppy  ;  so  that  the  fact  of  the  growth  of 
the  drug  in  China  ought  only  to  increase  our  sense  of  responsibility." — Lord  Justice  Fry. 


12  PRESENT-DAY  CONDITIONS  IN  CHINA 

in    March    1908,   the    Central   Government   has   reiterated    its 
commands  to  the  Viceroys  and  officials  of  the  Empire. 

"  China  has  not,"  to  quote  a  despatch  of  Sir  John  Jordan, 

the    British    Minister    in    Peking    (see    China,    No.   1,    1908), 

"hesitated  to  deal  with  a  question  which  a  European  nation, 

with  all  the  modern  machinery  of  government  and  the  power  of 

enforcing  its  decisions,  would  probably  have  been  unwilling  to 

f  face."     At  a  time  when  she  is  urgently  in  need  of  money  she  is 

^^ willingly  facing  the  loss  of  £6,768,750  in  opium  revenue,  "a 

ifar  more  serious  question,"  adds  the  British  Minister,  "at  the 

I  present  state  of  the  (Chinese)  national  exchequer  than  the  similar 

/  problem  with  which  the  Indian  Government  will  have  to  deal 

I  in  sacrificing  the  opium  revenue." 

Assured  of  China's  bona  fides  the  British  Government  has  at 
last,  reluctantly  it  must  unfortunately  be  said,  consented  to  an 
annual  reduction  for  the  three  years  1908-9-10  of  5100  chests, 
which  is  one-tenth  per  annum  of  the  total  quantity  of  opium 
shipped  from  India  to  China,  with  the  promise,  only,  of  future 
reductions  if  China  shall  prove  herself  able  to  carry  through  her 
policy  of  stamping  out  the  internal  production  and  consumption 
of  the  drug. 

While  this  is  an  advance  upon  what  any  other  British 
Government  has  ever  promised,  it  is  surely  a  lamentable 
exhibition  of  our  unwillingness  to  be  guided  by  a  righteous 
policy,  for  twice  in  recent  years  has  the  House  of  Commons 
pronounced  the  trade  to  be  "morally  indefensible." 

While  reluctantly  willing  not  to  make  it  impossible  for 
China  to  reform,  we  are  unwilling  to  lose  any  possible  gain 
which  may  yet  be  obtained  through  the  degradation  and  ruin 
I  of  another  nation.  Though  the  trade  be  "  morally  indefensible  " 
I  our  country  is  to  be  satisfied  with  a  "  conditional  morality," 
I  a  heathen  nation's  reform  being  our  standard  as  to  those 
^  conditions.  Here  is  surely  cause  for  shame  and  confusion  of 
^  face. 


THE  REFORM  MOVEMENT  13 

The  Government  Reform 

In  pursuance  of  the  promise  of  1906,  an  Edict  of  September 
20,  1907,  ordered  the  establishment  at  Peking  of  a  National 
Assembly  of  Ministers  to  confer  on  State  matters.  This  was 
to  be  the  first  step  towards  constitutional  government.  By 
another  edict  issued  a  few  days  later,  September  30,  arrange- 
ments for  local  self-government  were  also  sanctioned,  these 
arrangements  being  the  appointment  of  Town  Councils  and  Local 
Representatives. 

Finally  on  October  19,  another  edict  ordered  the  establish- 
ment of  Provincial  Assemblies  as  the  link  between  the  purely 
Local  and  National  Councils,  the  members  of  the  Imperial 
Assembly  at  Peking  to  be  in  the  future  selected  from  these 
provincial  assemblies.  While  the  publication  of  these  edicts 
may  be  comparatively  simple,  China  is  face  to  face  with  serious 
problems  in  the  carrying  of  them  out,  and  there  is  much  cause 
to  fear,  but  for  the  gracious  interposition  of  God,  that  before  these 
•new  arrangements  are  workable  there  may  be  serious  friction 
between  the  Central  and  Provincial  Governments.  The  Tatsu 
Maru  incident  referred  to  elsewhere  will  abundantly  illustrate 
this. 

Manchu  and  Chinese  Equality 

For  the  last  250  years,  since  the  Manchus  conquered  China, 
every  male  Manchu  has  been  either  a  soldier  or  an  official,  and 
has  been  in  receipt  from  birth  of  a  pension  from  the  Government. 
By  edicts  issued  during  the  past  year,  the  twenty-two  Manchu 
garrisons  established  throughout  China  have  been  abolished, 
marriage  between  Manchus  and  Chinese  has  been  allowed,  and 
the  Manchu  has  been  made  subject  to  the  Chinese  laws  and  to 
those  taxes  from  which  he  had  been  previously  exempted. 

Home,  land,  and  agricultural  implements,  etc.,  are  to  be 
provided  for  these  Manchus  from  the  sums  saved  by  the 
abolition  of  the  pensions.  These  steps  have  been  taken  to 
conciliate  the  anti-dynasty  feeling  throughout  the  country,  and 
the  assassination  of  En  Ming,  the  Manchu  Governor  of  Anhwei, 


14  PRESENT-DAY  CONDITIONS  IN  CHINA 

by  a  Chinese  official  of  Taotai  rank,  is  said  to  have  hastened 
the  publication  of  these  edicts. 

En  Ming,  the  assassinated  Governor,  was  in  1900  an  expectant 
Taotai  residing  in  Taiyuanfu.  Under  false  promises  of 
protection  it  was  he  who  obtained  the  names  and  location  of  all 
missionaries  within  the  province  for  the  cruel  Governor  Yii 
Hsien. 

Official  Changes 

Before  closing  this  chapter  brief  reference  may  be  made 
to  some  of  the  bewildering  changes  in  official  appointments 
during  the  year.  To  give  even  a  summary  of  these  would 
be  too  lengthy,  but  the  mention  of  one  or  two  will  be  a 
sufficient  commentary  on  the  state  of  the  Central  Government 
which  ordered  them,  and  upon  the  country  subject  to  such 
vicissitudes. 

Of  the  nine  Viceroyalties,  if  Manchuria  be  included,  only 
two  have  retained  the  same  Viceroy  throughout  the  year.  One 
Viceroy,  H.E.  Tsen,  was  appointed  to  no  less  than  five  posts, 
but  entered  upon  none  of  them.  Three  Governors  were 
appointed  to  Heilungkiang  during  the  first  three  months  of  its 
status  as  a  province.  H.E.  Yiian  Shihkai,  the  Viceroy  of 
Chihli,  an  able  supporter  of  the  Anti-Opium  Movement,  was 
appointed  Grand  Councillor  and  President  of  the  Foreign  Office, 
while  the  aged  Chang  Chihtung  was  made  Grand  Secretary  and 
Comptroller-General  of  the  Ministry  of  Education. 


IV 
THE   NEW   SPIEIT   OF   NATIONALISM 

' '  The  cry  is  spreading  over  Asia,  '  Asia  for  the  Asiatics  ! '  We  can  no 
more  resist,  even  if  we  would,  this  rising  national  and  oriental  feeling  than 
we  can  resist  the  tides  of  the  sea.  But  we  would  not  resist  it.  We  re- 
member the  nation  and  the  race  are  as  much  the  creation  of  God  as  is  the 
family." — J.  R.  Mott. 

There  is  probably  no  subject  which,  at  the  present  time,  calls 
for  more  care,  sympathy,  and  patience,  on  the  part  of  Statesman, 
Merchant,  and  Missionary,  than  that  of  the  rising  spirit  of 
nationalism.  Fraught  with  great  dangers,  it  has  also  potentialities 
of  great  good. 

The  spread  of  railways,  the  work  of  Missions,  the  recent 
wars,  the  opium  trade,  the  exclusion  acts  of  America  and 
Australia,  the  seizure  of  territory,  the  fortifying  of  the  Foreign 
Legations  and  other  things,  have  all  united  to  arouse  the  Chinese 
to  assert  his  independence  and  national  personality.  It  is  seen 
in  the  articles  published  in  the  Chinese  daily  press,  in  their  use 
of  the  national  flag  for  decorative  purposes,  in  the  singing  of 
patriotic  songs,  in  the  boycotting  of  foreign  goods,  in  the 
redemption  of  concessions,  and,  in  fact,  is  manifest  in  the 
atmosphere  of  all  things  Chinese  to-day. 

"  This  spirit  of  nationalism,"  Avrites  the  Rev.  A.  B.  Wann,  B.D., 
"  is  not  to  be  put  down ;  so  I  do  not  think  it  is  our  business  as 
Christians  to  wish  it  put  down,  but  rather  to  desire  that  it  should 
be  directed  in  the  right  w  ay.  What  is  our  duty  as  Christians  1 
Is  it  not  to  recognise  that  it  is  natural  that  men  should  desire 
to  have  more  power  and  more  say  in  the  aflFairs  of  their  own 

15 


16  PRESENT-DAY  CONDITIONS  IN  CHINA 

country?  .  .  .  We  have  a  duty  to  the  mass  of  the  people — a 
duty  to  extend  them  sympatliy  ...  we  need  to  have  a  spirit 
of  brotherhood  given  to  us ;  we  need  to  have  the  spirit  of 
patience  given  to  us.  Patience  was  a  great  virtue  in  the  Early 
Church  ;  but  it  was  the  patience  of  the  weak  in  presence  of  the 
strong.  We  European  Christians  need,  it  seems  to  me,  the 
higher  kind  of  patience — the  patience  of  the  strong  in  presence 
of  the  weak." 

China,  always  naturally  proud  and  for  long  anti-foreign,  has, 
by  reason  of  the  more  ready  means  of  communication  now 
afforded  by  her  railways  and  telegraphs,  and  the  more  ready 
means  of  public  utterance  through  the  rapid  expansion  of  her 
daily  press,  begun  more  palpably  to  feel  and  give  expression  to 
her  national  pride  and  spirit.  The  nation,  so  long  provincial  in 
sentiment  as  well  as  government,  is  being  knit  together  and 
being  swayed  as  never  before  by  united  impulses  and  feeling. 

Among  the  many  things  wherein  China  has,  during  the  past 
year,  revealed  her  growing  independence  and  power,  one  or  tM'o 
may  be  mentioned  (not  to  speak  of  such  action  as  the  redemption 
of  the  Canton-Hankow  Railway  rights  for  £1,350,000  in  1905, 
etc.).  The  mining  rights  of  the  Peking  Syndicate  in  Shansi 
have  been  redeemed  by  China  at  a  cost  of  Taels  2,750,000,  or 
about  £400,000,  a  settlement  which  has  relieved  a  situation  of 
great  difficulty  in  the  province  of  Shansi. 

China  has  also  obtained  in  the  agreement  for  the  Tientsin- 
Pukow  (Nanking)  Railway  a  considerable  modification,  in  her 
favour,  of  the  original  contract  of  May  1899,  while  a  compromise 
has  been  agreed  to  in  the  case  of  the  Chekiang  railway  dispute 
so  as  to  conciliate  the  provincial  opposition.  China  has  also 
purchased  the  German  Camps  at  Tsingtao  and  Kaomi  for 
$380,000 ;  and  has  appointed  H.E.  Yang  Shih-chi,  Vice- 
President  of  the  Ministry  of  Agriculture,  as  Travelling  Com- 
missioner to  visit  the  Chinese  communities  in  the  South  Pacific, 
so  as  to  promote  a  feeling  of  Imperial  solidarity. 

Within  the  Church  this  feeling  of  national  independence  has 
also  manifested  itself,  and  while  a  healthy  independence  is  much 
to  be  desired,  there  is  need  for  much  wisdom  on  the  part  of  the 


THE  NEW  SPIRIT  OF  NATIONALISM  17 

missionary,  that  he  may,  by  means  of  patient  and  sympathetic 
influence,  prevent  a  premature  and  hurtful  breaking  away  from 
those  who  have  been  the  Church's  leaders  and  teachers  up  to  the 
present. 

There  is,  at  present,  in  the  Far  East  a  growing  danger  of 
religious  eclecticism  and  immature  conceptions  of  Christian 
doctrine  and  experience,  so  that  there  is  much  need  for  that 
tactful  wisdom  on  the  part  of  the  missionaries  which  will  enable 
them  to  retain  a  loving  and  helpful  control,  or  at  least  co-opera- 
tion, for  some  years  to  come. 


THE   FORCES   OF   DISORDER 

' '  Seek  ye  the  peace  of  the  city  whither  I  have  caused  you  to  be  carried 
.  .  .  and  pray  unto  the  Lord  for  it :  for  in  the  peace  thereof  shall  ye  have 
peace." — Jer.  xxix.  7. 

China  is  undoubtedly  passing  through  a  time  of  great  stress. 
Debased  coinage  is  endangering  public  confidence  and  hindering 
trade,  lack  of  funds  and  suitable  teachers  are  checking  modern 
education,  corrupt  officialism  is  blocking  the  way  of  many  good 
schemes,  while  famine,  rice  riots,  anti-foreign  and  anti-dynastic 
agitations  threaten  the  peace  of  the  land.  The  Gospel,  though 
superior  to  all  adverse  conditions,  is  not,  however,  unaffected 
thereby  in  its  progress. 

Nearly  every  missionary  report  from  the  province  of  Chekiang, 
and  most  of  those  from  south  and  south-east  Kiangsi,  tell  of 
widespread  trouble  and  days  of  storm.  In  Chekiang  the  mis- 
sionaries and  Christians  have  been  living  in  the  midst  of  districts 
seriously  affected  by  bandits,  salt-smugglers,  and  secret  societies. 
In  south-west  Kiangsi  a  widespread  Boxer  outbreak  kept  many 
of  the  workers  in  constant  dread  of  attack,  while  at  Kanchow 
the  troubles  came  to  a  climax  in  a  serious  riot. 

Far  away  to  the  west,  the  city  of  Kaihsien  in  Szechwan 
was  also  the  scene  of  serious  disturbances.  The  storm  first 
broke  upon  the  Government  schools  and  then  upon  the  Roman 
Catholic  premises,  which  were  looted  and  destroyed,  and,  finally, 
upon  the  C.I.M.  property  and  the  homes  of  many  of  the  Chinese 
Christians.     In  Yunnan,  Mr.  Pollard,  of  the  Bible  Christians, 

18 


THE  FOECES  OF  DISOEDER  19 

whose  work  among  the  aborigines  has  been  so  blessed,  was  at 
one  time  savagely  attacked  and  almost  beaten  to  death. 

While  in  the  goodness  of  God  no  Protestant  missionaries 
were  killed,  some  of  the  Christian  converts  in  Kiangsi,  at  least, 
suffered  martyrdom,  one  Roman  Catholic  priest  was  killed,  and 
many  native  Christians  suffered  both  bodily  hurt  and  loss  of 
property. 

Unfortunately,  these  troubles  are  not  all.  The  acquisition 
by  the  Roman  Catholic  bishops  and  priests  in  China  of  official 
status  in  1899  has,  it  is  to  be  feared,  led  many  of  their  converts 
to  regard  and  use  the  Church  as  a  political  weapon.  This  is  a 
subject  about  which  one  would  fain  not  speak,  but  the  following 
facts  ought  to  be  recorded  to  call  forth  prayer  for  those  churches, 
and  they  are  not  few,  which  are  passing  through  times  of 
persecution.  Without  giving  the  name  of  the  station  we  may 
quote  from  the  Report. 

"A  terrible  Eoman   Catholic  oppression   has  meant   a    sad 

set-back  for  the  work  at  .     Very  literally  has  it  been  a 

sowing  of  tears.  Several  armed  demonstrations  have  been  made 
against  us.  One  night  the  Gospel  Hall  signboard  was  smashed 
and  the  door  slashed  with  many  sword-cuts,  which,  in  the 
Chinese'  eyes,  is  a  crowning  insult." 

"The  Christians  have  sustained  false  accusations  in  the 
yamen,  have  been  beaten,  and  had  their  shops  ransacked.  One 
young  widow  was  carried  off  to  be  sold,  two  days  after  her 
husband's  death,  her  uncle  and  four  others  being  wounded  when 
endeavouring  to  rescue  her.  One's  heart  is  sad,  indeed,  to  see 
how  the  work  in  all  the  districts  is  at  a  standstill  in  conse- 
quence, and  many  are  afraid  to  come.  The  Provincial  Confer- 
ence, when  Dr.  Lee  spoke,  was  a  blessing  to  us  all,  and  was 
used  of  God  to  prevent  two  of  the  evangelists  from  resigning 
their  posts  in  desperation.  This  is  no  small  spiritual  triumph, 
for  they  are  now  called  to  stand  face  to  face  with  even  greater 
danger,  their  lives  being  threatened.  One  of  them  was  fired  at 
three  times,  fortunately  without  injury  to  himself." 

The  strong  racial  feeling  which  still  exists  in  China  against 


20  PRESENT-DAY  CONDITIONS  IN  CHINA 

the  Manchus  was  terribly  illustrated  on  July  6,  1907,  when 
H.E.  En  Ming,  the  Manchu  Governor  of  Anhwei,  was  assassi- 
nated by  a  Chinese  Taotai.  Strong  provincial  feeling  also  exists 
against  railway  development  by  foreign  syndicates  or  the  policing 
of  the  West  River  by  foreign  gunboats.  The  temper  of  the 
Chinese  to-day  may,  perhaps,  best  be  illustrated  by  a  quotation 
from  a  telegram  concerning  the  strained  relationships  which  have 
existed  regarding  the  release  of  the  Japanese  vessel,  the  Tatsti 
Maru,  seized  by  the  Chinese  Government  because  of  its  cargo  of 
arms. 

"  Over  50,000  persons  attended  an  indignation  meeting  in 
Canton  in  connection  with  the  release  of  the  Tatsu  Maru.  Many 
buildings  were  draped  in  mourning.  Inflammatory  speeches  were 
delivered  by  twenty  speakers,  including  a  boy  of  twelve,  whose 
words,  calling  for  a  Japanese  boycott,  moved  his  audience  to 
tears.  The  listeners  divested  themselves  of  their  Japanese 
garments,  caps,  handkerchiefs,  and  made  a  huge  bonfire  of  them ; 
while  one  man,  a  dealer  in  Japanese  goods,  ofl'ered  to  sacrifice 
his  stock  for  a  similar  purpose.  It  was  suggested  that  posters 
should  be  affixed  to  shop-fronts,  appealing  to  purchasers  to  taboo 
Japanese  manufactures.  The  meeting  proposed  the  impeach- 
ment of  Yuan  Shih-kai  for  his  weakness  in  yielding  to  Japan's 
demands." 

No  one  can  read  these  words  without  realising  that  there  are 
elements  in  a  meeting  such  as  this  which  could  soon  set  the 
country  in  a  blaze  of  revolution,  or,  to  say  the  least,  involve  it 
in  the  most  serious  conflict  with  other  Powers.  For  years  to 
come  China's  path  will  not  be  an  easy  one,  and  there  is  need  for 
constant  prayer  that  China's  programme  of  reform  may  be 
accomplished  without  bloodshed.  Whether  China  is  to  experi- 
ence the  horrors  of  a  French  Revolution,  or  to  be  saved  from 
such  an  evil,  as  England  was  by  the  preaching  of  John  Wesley, 
will  depend  not  a  little  upon  the  vigour  with  which  the  work  of 
preaching  the  Gospel  is  carried  on  to-day  within  the  Empire. 


VI 
CHINA   AND   THE   WORLD 

* '  More  than  seven  millions  of  Chinese  reside  beyond  the  boundaries  of  the 
Empire,  and  China's  foreign  debt  is  not  less  than  250  millions  sterling. 
The  bonds  of  finance,  commerce,  and  population  are  upon  us.  Our  interests 
are  already  inseparably  united.  China's  future  not  only  affects  herself, 
it  affects  the  world." — Preface  Pastor  Hsi's  Conversion. 

Each  year  not  only  brings  the  countries  of  the  world  more 
closely  together  geographically,  by  more  easy  and  rapid  means 
of  communication,  but  each  year  makes  it  more  evident  that  no 
nation  liveth  unto  itself.  All  are  inseparably  bound  together 
in  the  bundle  of  life,  and  the  rapid  development  of  international 
politics  and  commerce  makes  it  the  more  urgent,  in  the  interests 
of  the  world,  that  those  nations  which  are  destined  to  play  so 
large  a  part  in  world-wide  history  should  be  brought  under  the 
influence  of  the  Gospel. 

The  West  has  broken  down  the  exclusive  policy  of  the  East, 
and  it  is  not  possible  now  for  the  West  to  build  for  itself  another 
wall  of  exclusion  similar  to  that  it  has  taken  such  pains  to  break 
down.  The  policy  of  the  "open  door"  necessitates  egress  as 
well  as  ingress. 

The  growing  importance  of  Far  Eastern  affairs  has  been 
emphasised  during  the  past  year  by  the  signing  of  the  Russo- 
Japanese  and  Franco -Japanese  agreements  in  June  and  July 
respectively,  both  of  which  agreements  have  important  bearings 
on  China.  The  Anglo-Russian  agreement,  while  closing  Tibet  to 
the  missionary  and  trader  for  the  next  three  years,  has  acknow- 
ledged China's  suzerainty  over  that  country.  The  Anglo- 
Chinese    opium    agreement    is   a    step  in    the    right  direction, 

21 


22  PRESENT-DAY  CONDITIONS  IN  CHINA 

though  altogether  unworthy  of  the  professed  Christian  name 
of  Great  Britain.  The  willingness  of  China,  Great  Britain, 
Germany,  France,  Holland,  and  Japan  to  accept  the  proposals 
of  the  United  States  for  a  joint  Commission  to  investigate  the 
opium  question  inspires  the  hope  that  more  stringent  steps  may 
yet  be  taken  to  stamp  out  this  evil. 

Among  the  questions  which  give  rise  to  some  uneasiness 
are  the  unfortunate  friction  between  China  and  Japan  anent 
railway  matters  in  Manchuria  and  the  Chientao  boundary 
dispute.  Although  Manchuria  was  nominally  handed  over  to 
China  during  the  past  year,  April  15,  1907,  having  terminated 
the  eighteen  months  provided  by  the  Portsmouth  Agreement  for 
the  withdrawal  of  all  troops,  Eussia  still  retains  in  Manchuria 
27,500  Eailway  Guards,  and  Japan  14,675. 

The  racial  disturbances  on  the  West  Coast  of  America  and  in 
the  Transvaal,  in  which  China,  India,  and  Japan  have  all  been 
concerned,  foreshadow  one  of  the  most  serious  problems  of  the 
twentieth  century.  Diplomacy  may  temporise  with  it,  and  even 
postpone  the  collision  of  interests,  but  no  permanent  solution 
will  be  found  for  these  racial  difficulties  apart  from  that  Gospel 
which  brings  peace  on  earth,  goodwill  to  men. 

Already  there  are  more  Chinese  living  beyond  the  bounds 
of  their  own  Empire  than  the  total  population  of  Canada  or 
Australasia.  The  number  is  approximately  equal  to  the  com- 
bined populations  of  Norway  and  Sweden  or  the  population 
of  Korea.  This  is  a  remarkable  and  noteworthy  fact,  and  if  the 
rapid  immigration  of  Chinese  into  Manchuria  be  looked  into, 
it  becomes  the  more  abundantly  evident  that  the  Chinese  are 
destined  to  count  much  in  the  life  of  mankind. 

The  following  table  giving  the  numbers  of  Chinese  in  foreign 
lands  is  worthy  of  careful  thought. 


[Tablb 


CHINA  AND  THE  WORLD 


23 


Chinese  in  Foreign  Countries  ^ 

1.  In  U.S.A.  and  Canada — 

U.S.A.  1900  Census  west  of  Rocky  Mountains 
„  ,,         ,,       east  of  Rocky  Mountains 

Canada 

2.  In  Hawaii,  1900  U.S.A.  Census 

3.  American  Continent  other  than  U.S.A.  and  Canada 

4.  Australia 

5.  Japan  (approx.) 

6.  Siberia  and  Korea 

7.  Philippines 

8.  Indo-China 

9.  Singapore  and  Malay  Peninsula 

10.  Dutch  Indies  (including  Borneo) 

11.  Siam 

12.  British  India    .... 

13.  Formosa  ..... 

14.  South  Africa,  1906  (being  reduced) 


67,729 

22,534 

11,000 

25,767 

145,000 

30,000 

20,000 

28,700 

80,000 

150,000 

985,000 

600,000 

2,500,000 

40,000 

2,600,000 

50,000 

7,355,730 


For  many  years  it  has  been  the  custom  of  those  using  the 
China  Inland  Mission's  Prayer  List  to  pray  every  Saturday 
for  Chinese  in  Foreign  Lands.  These  figures  may  help  in  this 
important  subject. 

After  the  restoration  to  China  of  Manchuria,  the  three  Eastern 
provinces  were  formed  into  a  new  Viceroyalty,  and  eighteen 
towns  opened  to  foreign  trade,  while  steady  immigration  has 
been  adopted  as  China's  best  and  probably  only  means  of 
strengthening  her  position  in  the  country.  At  the  same  time, 
schemes  concerning  Mongolia  are  in  the  air,  Kashgar  has  become 
an  open  port,  and  foreign -drilled  troops  are  being  sent  to 
garrison  Tibet,  and  a  scheme  for  the  colonisation  of  Eastern 
Tibet  with  Chinese  has  been  formulated. 

Perhaps  the  most  astonishing  evidence  of  China's  vitality  is 
seen  by  considering  the  steady  but  irresistible  flow  of  Chinese 

^  It  has  been  estimated  by  the  Chinese  Imperial  Customs  that  these  people 
annually  send  home  about  73  million  taels,  or  more  than  £10,000,000. 


24  PRESENT-DAY  CONDITIONS  IN  CHINA 

life  northward.  They  are  flocking  into  Siberia  rapidly,  and  can 
be  found  all  along  the  Siberian  railway  route  as  far  inland  as 
Irkutsk.  The  following  extracts  from  Mr.  Putnam  Weale's 
last  work,  The  Coming  Struggle  in  Eastern  Asia,  abundantly 
illustrate  this  point : — 

"  The  slow  movement  northward  to  the  Amur  regions  of 
millions  upon  millions  of  hard-headed  Chinese  settlers,  who,  by 
combining  with  one  another  and  by  the  very  intensiveness  of 
their  methods,  form  a  solid  phalanx  which  no  Russian  moujiks, 
officially  transplanted  by  their  Government,  can  ever  break." 

"  The  Chinese  settling  movement  is  extending  along  the  entire 
course  of  the  Trans -Manchurian  Railway,  and  has  done  more 
than  anything  else  to  convince  the  Russians,  who  are  willing  to 
use  their  eyes,  that  it  is  folly  for  them  to  expect  to  compete 
with  such  an  enterprising  and  insistent  population.  The  question 
of  populating  the  country  as  a  weapon  against  assimilation  is 
perfectly  well  understood  by  the  Chinese  authorities." 

"  All  the  rich  grass-land  is  being  rapidly  taken  up  by  Chinese 
settlers,  and  so  amazing  and  so  quietly  has  this  natural  move- 
ment been  going  on  that  there  is  no  doubt  that  to  the  south-east 
of  Tsitshar — between  the  Gobi  Desert  and  Central  Manchuria — 
a  new  Chinese  province  is  being  slowly  formed,  which  will  soon 
have  to  receive  official  recognition." 

"Already  it  is  calculated  that  the  Chinese  agricultural  belt 
is  advancing  on  the  Mongols  and  their  wandering  tribes  at  the 
rate  of  ten  miles  a  year.  In  fifteen  or  twenty  years  the  spade 
and  the  mattock  will  have  captured  millions  of  acres  and  bound 
them  tight  to  the  Chinese  system  in  bounteous  crops." 

In  confirmation  of  the  foregoing,  the  latest  Chinese  newspapers 
report  that  the  Chinese  Government  propose  converting  the 
territory  of  Ch'ahar  (Chakhar)  in  Mongolia  into  a  province, 
and  of  creating  a  Governorship  for  that  territory.  The  Viceroys 
and  Governors  of  China  Proper  have  also  been  commanded  to 
assist  in  the  transporting  of  the  Manchus  from  the  various 
Manchu  garrisons,  now  abolished,  to  Manchuria,  to  cultivate  the 
waste  arable  lands  in  Fengtien,  Kirin,  and  Heilungkiang, 

At  the  same  time  comes  the  glad  news   that  the  spiritual 


CHINA  AND  THE  WORLD  25 

awakening  has  spread  from  Korea  to  Liaoyang  and  Mukden, 
names  so  terribly  associated  with  the  recent  war.  At  both  these 
centres  God  has  been  visiting  His  people,  and  numbers  have 
afresh  dedicated  themselves,  their  time  and  means,  to  the 
Lord's  service. 


VII 

FEOM   THE   CHINESE   POINT   OF   VIEW 

"  Make  them  (the  foreigner)  suffer  as  the  Chinese  have  suffered,  and  then 
frankly  and  conscientiously  answer  if  they  would  not  do  as  the  Chinese  have 
done,  and  that  more  quickly.  Unless  precluded  from  normal  reasoning  by 
mental  aberrations,  they  cannot  but  answer  in  the  affirmative." — N.  L.  Nien. 

Much  has  been  written  about  China,  but  nothing  can  equal 
first-hand  study.  Few  things  to-day,  whether  at  home  or  in  the 
country  itself,  aflFord  a  better  opportunity  of  feeling  the  pulse  of 
the  nation  than  the  reading  of  that  which  issues  from  their 
public  press.  For  this  reason,  this  section  will  be  entirely 
devoted  to  extracts  from  articles  written  by  Chinese  for  Chinese. 
The  extracts  are  taken,  without  note  or  comment,  from  editorials 
or  articles  which  have  appeared  during  the  last  twelve  months 
in  The  World's  Chinese  Students'  Journal.  This  is  a  bi-lingual 
bi-monthly  Magazine.  The  languages  are  English  and  Chinese, 
and  the  extracts  given  are  not  translations  but  are  taken  verbatim 
from  the  English  text. 

China's  Relation  with  the  West 

By  H.E.  WU  TiNQ-FANG 

"  The  different  nations  in  the  West  have,  within  the  present 
century,  advanced  so  much  in  science,  knowledge,  and  wealth 
that  it  has  become  the  fashion  to  speak  of  them  as  the  most 
civilised  nations  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  to  consider  the 
nations  in  the  East  as  much  below  them  in  civilisation — in  fact, 
as  barbarous  or  semi -civilised.     It  has  been  too  much  the  habit 

26 


FROM  THE  CHINESE  POINT  OF  VIEW  27 

to  ignore  the  good  points  the  Eastern  nations  possess,  and  to 
leave  out  of  account  what  they  have  done.  This  is  hardly  just. 
The  East  has  also  a  civilisation  of  its  own.  Of  that  civilisation 
China  is  the  chief  exponent.  Among  its  achievements  may  be 
mentioned  the  invention  of  the  mariner's  compass,  gunpowder, 
and  printing.     It  is  not  a  civilisation  of  mushroom  growth. 

"There  is  not  a  nation  standing  to-day  that  can  trace  its 
history  as  far  back  as  China.  She  has  witnessed  the  rise  and 
fall  of  the  ancient  Egyptian  Dynasties,  the  expansion  of  the 
Persian  Empire,  the  conquests  of  Alexander,  the  irresistible 
advance  of  the  Roman  legion,  the  deluge  of  Teutonic  hordes 
from  the  North,  the  dissolution  of  the  Empire  of  Charlemagne, 
and  the  birth  of  all  the  modern  nations  of  Europe.  During  the 
forty  centuries  of  her  existence  there  have  gradually  grown  up 
institutions  and  laws  adapted  to  the  needs  and  character  of  the 
people ;  a  literature  as  extensive  and  varied  as  that  of  ancient 
and  modern  Europe ;  a  system  of  morality  that  can  challenge 
comparison  with  any  other  the  world  has  ever  produced ;  and 
those  useful  arts  that  have  never  ceased  to  excite  the  wonder 
and  admiration  of  the  world. 

"  You  may  ask  why  Egypt,  Persia,  Greece,  and  even  mighty 
Rome  have  successively  succumbed  to  the  ravages  of  time,  while 
China  alone  has  survived.  The  answer  is  not  far  to  seek.  It 
is  the  survival  of  the  fittest.  The  working  of  this  inexorable 
law  of  nature  constantly  weeds  out  those  nations  that  cannot 
adapt  themselves  to  the  ever-changing  conditions  of  life,  and  the 
fact  that  China  is  standing  to-day  shows  conclusively  that  she 
has  not  outlived  her  usefulness  to  the  cause  of  civilisation." 

An  Appeal  to  China's  Foreign-Educated  Men 

By  ToNG  Kai-son 

"The  fear  of  God  and  the  love  of  justice  are  only  felt  by 
those  who  are  dealing  with  powerful  antagonists  like  themselves. 
To  oppress  the  weak,  issue  ultimatums  to  the  defenceless,  sub- 
vert the  principles  of  truth  and  justice,  seem  to  have  become 
the  new  sport  of  Emperors,  Kings,  and  Presidents.     In  short,  the 


28  PRESENT-DAY  CONDITIONS  IN  CHINA 

r61e  of  a  righteous  but  weak  nation  is  no  longer  possible  in  the 
modern  arena  of  international  warfare,  strife,  and  aggressiveness. 

"  In  the  course  of  a  few  decades,  she  [China]  has  been  deprived 
of  her  protectorate  over  Tonking,  Burma,  and  Corea,  while  she 
has  lost  Hong-Kong,  the  Pescadores,  Formosa,  the  Liuchiu 
Islands,  and  what  is  now  known  as  the  Primorvsk  Province. 
In  addition,  Kuangchouwan,  the  Kowloon  hinterland,  Tsingtao, 
Weihaiwei,  and  the  Liaotung  Peninsula  are  in  the  firm  grip  of 
Foreign  Powers. 

"  China  has  also  had  to  pay  enormous  indemnities,  far  dispro- 
portionate to  the  injuries  inflicted.  By  the  indemnity  that  was 
wrung  out  of  her  as  the  result  of  the  '  Boxer '  outbreak,  certain 
Powers  reaped  a  clear  profit  of  over  one  hundred  million  taels. 

"We  need  only  mention  as  examples  the  maintenance  of 
ex-territorial  jurisdiction,  the  enforcement  of  a  fixed  tariff,  the 
imposition  of  the  opium  trade,  the  stationing  of  Legation  guards 
at  our  national  capital,  the  so-called  'leases'  of  naval  bases 
along  our  sea-coast,  the  usurpation  of  our  coast-carrying  trade, 
and  the  encroachment  on  our  postal  privileges.  The  late  Mixed 
Court  episode  is  another  instance  in  point. 

"  We  must  remember  that  it  is  in  the  nature  of  man  to  seek 
to  take  advantage  of  the  weak,  and  that,  were  the  positions 
reversed,  China  might  accord  even  worse  treatment  to  foreign 
nations.  It  behooves  us,  then,  not  to  entertain  unworthy 
thoughts  of  hatred  and  resentment,  which  will  be  of  no  avail, 
but  to  concentrate  all  our  energies  to  the  setting  of  our  political 
and  economic  systems  in  order.  When  China  shall  have  become 
a  strong  and  self-reliant  nation,  the  present  unsatisfactory 
situation  will,  of  course,  disappear,  and  she  will  at  once  take 
her  proper  place  in  the  family  of  nations.  If  China  is  to  be 
saved,  the  work  must  depend  greatly  upon  her  foreign-educated 
sons,  who  by  reason  of  their  practical  knowledge,  their  wide 
experience,  and  their  broad  ideas  are  more  able  to  grasp  the 
situation  and  apply  the  remedy  than  their  brethren  of  the  old 
school." 


FROM  THE  CHINESE  POINT  OF  VIEW  29 

The  Anti-Asiatic  Spirit 

An  Editorial 

*'  Our  people  are  not  ignorant  of  the  fact  that  the  agitation 
on  the  Pacific  coast,  Canada,  and  elsewhere  is  not  so  much  anti- 
Japanese  as  anti-Asiatic,  and  that  the  battle  that  Japan  is 
fighting  is  more  or  less  the  battle  that  affects  all  Asiatics.  If 
Japan,  the  foremost  Asiatic  Power  and  the  most  progressive  of 
Eastern  nations,  may  not  receive  fair  and  equal  treatment  at 
the  hands  of  Western  nations,  what  hope  can  there  remain  for 
the  less  progressive  and  less  powerful  ones  1 

"  To  return  to  the  subject  of  this  editorial,  we  must  confess 
that  Japan,  if  she  is  wise,  might,  it  seems  to  us,  somewhat  change 
her  present  policy  and  revert  to  the  other  more  natural  and 
dignified  one  of  drawing  a  little  closer  to  her  continental 
neighbour.  She  is  destined  to  be,  and  has  the  opportunity 
thrust  upon  her  of  being,  the  leader  and  teacher  of  all  Asia,  and 
of  passing  on  the  benefits  and  privileges  which  heaven  has  so 
bountifully  showered  upon  her  to  the  less  fortunate  and  en- 
lightened countries  of  the  same  continent.  Surely  here  is  a 
task  the  successful  accomplishment  of  which  will  shed  eternal 
lustre  on  her  name  in  history.  Her  position  is  not  to  push 
herself  forward  into  places  where  she  is  not  wanted,  or  wanted 
only  that  she  is  given  an  axe  to  grind,  but  to  be  the  unselfish, 
wise,  and  glorious  leader  of  peoples  of  her  own  race  and  colour, 
to  hasten  their  enlightenment  and  awakening,  thus  assuring  the 
peace  of  the  world.  Let  Japan  then,  instead  of  choosing  to 
be  the  pygmy  among  giants,  be  the  giant  among  pygmies — 
pygmies  which  may  in  the  near  future  develop  into  giants  also."^ 

A  Review  of  "China  and  America  To-Day" 
By  A  Chinese  Reviewer 

"This  small  volume  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  A.  H.  Smith,  whose 
cynical  book  called  the  Chinese  Characteristics  has  given  him  a 
world-wide  celebrity,  contains,  we  must  suppose,  the  ripe  fruit 


30  PKESENT-DAY  CONDITIONS  IN  CHINA 

of  his  Chinese  studies  and  observations.  Dr,  Smith,  in  his 
previous  writings,  seems  like  one  attempting  every  possible 
way  of  representing  the  Chinese  as  a  whimsical  and  contemptible 
sort  of  people,  albeit  giving  them  credit  in  a  patronising  way 
for  the  possession  of  a  few  rather  good  virtues.  We  have  often 
felt  that  the  author  strained  every  effort  to  make  strong  impres- 
sions on  his  readers,  with  the  result  that  many  of  his  so-called 
Chinese  characteristics  are  not  characteristic  at  all.  Many  of 
the  vices,  weaknesses,  and  failings  which  he  so  credited  the 
'  heathen  Chinese '  with  are  really,  we  are  afraid,  as  common 
amongst  his  countrymen  as  they  are  amongst  ourselves.  The 
absurdities  and  crudities  of  his  previous  works  rendered  his 
writings  very  offensive  reading  to  intelligent  Chinese  who  can 
understand  the  English  language.  We  must  say  that  the 
rev.  gentleman  is  largely  responsible  for  the  contemptuous 
opinion  held  of  the  Chinese  by  many  of  his  innocent  countrymen. 
So  much  for  the  Chinese  Characteristics. 

"  Now  the  volume  before  us  is,  in  our  opinion,  both  an 
apologia  and  a  retraction  of  the  prejudiced  opinions  expressed 
in  his  previous  work  afore  -  mentioned.  In  this  volume  the 
virtues  of  a  '  great  race '  are  detailed,  and  there  is  not  a 
whisper  of  those  wonderful  characteristics  which  for  over  a 
decade  have  made  the  Chinese  the  butt  of  ridicule  in  the  eyes 
of  foreigners." 

Our  Female  Education 

An  Editorial 

"  Perhaps  no  nation  has  yet  truly  solved  this  great  problem ; 
for  not  even  England  and  America,  with  all  their  magnificent 
educational  systems  and  institutions,  have  arrived  at  the  ideal 
point  as  to  what  female  education  ought  to  be.  In  their  eager 
desire  to  promote  the  intellectual  welfare  of  their  women,  they 
seem  to  have  overlooked  the  one  fundamental  fact  that  what- 
ever may  be  their  mental  capacity.  Nature  had  by  their  very 
constitution  intended  a  diflferent  sphere  from  that  of  men  for 
them  to  move  in. 


FEOM  THE  CHINESE  POINT  OF  VIEW  31 

"  The  development  of  the  intellect  without  the  corresponding 
cultivation  of  those  qualities  which  make  up  complete  woman- 
hood in  the  strictest  sense  of  the  word  has  produced  the 
disastrous  consequences  from  which  Western  nations  are  to-day- 
suffering  ;  for  not  only  has  the  modern  woman  outgrown  the 
idea  of  domestic  duties,  but  she  has  become  the  dangerous  rival 
of  man  in  almost  every  line  of  profession  which  modern  education 
and  the  concomitant  idea  of  equality  have  opened  to  her. 

"  Our  modern  female  education,  conducted  by  enthusiastic  but 
ignorant  reformers,  has  the  fatal  elements  which  have  produced 
the  effects  as  above-mentioned ;  only,  while  in  Western  countries 
personal  conduct  is  to  a  great  extent  regulated  by  strict, 
conventional  social  rules,  our  women,  disregarding  traditional 
customs,  with  no  new  moral  codes  to  substitute  them,  are  fast 
losing  those  virtues  which  have  been  the  healthy  forces  of  our 
society. 

"  The  real  object  of  our  female  education  is  not  to  develop 
manly  qualities  out  of  the  girls,  but  to  evolve  those  character- 
istics which  make  an  ideal  womanhood.  Hence  it  is  not  merely 
the  development  of  the  mind  that  should  be  striven  after,  but  the 
cultivation  of  those  finer  sensibilities  and  the  evolution  of  those 
more  practical  qualities  which  make  them  a  true  woman,  a  model 
housewife,  and  an  ideal  mother." 

A  National  Anthem 

An  Editorial 

"  In  Western  countries  to-day,  the  national  anthem  occupies 
a  prominent  position  in  the  life  of  the  nation.  Next  to  the 
national  flag  nothing,  perhaps,  contributes  a  larger  share  in  the 
keeping  alive  of  national  sentiment  and  the  perpetuation  of 
patriotic  ardour  than  the  patriotic  song.  Alluding  as  it  does  to 
the  land  of  their  fathers  and  to  the  ruler  of  their  country,  it 
thus  not  only  keeps  the  people  in  constant  remembrance  of  the 
allegiance  which  they  owe    to    their   fatherland   and  to    their 


32  PRESENT-DAY  CONDITIONS  IN  CHINA 

sovereign,  but  it  also  serves  as  a  powerful  instrument  of  binding 
them  together  as  a  nation,  thus  creating  the  national  unity  and 
solidarity  which  can  be  effected  only  by  the  direct  appeal  to  the 
highest  emotion  of  man. 

"The  importance  with  which  it  is  held  in  every  civilised 
community  is  attested  by  the  fact  that,  whether  in  peace  or  war, 
the  national  anthem  has  always  been  an  indispensable  and 
inseparable  part  of  a  public  demonstration. 

"  It  was  only  after  the  assimilation  by  Japan  of  Western  ideas 
and  civilisation  that  the  national  anthem  in  that  country  has 
sprung  into  existence  and  has  become  a  part  of  the  national  life. 

"  In  the  face  of  the  rapid  growth  of  national  sentiment  among 
our  people,  the  time  is  certainly  ripe  enough  for  some  one  to 
develop  a  national  anthem,  which  will  become  the  heritage  of 
the  coming  generations  of  our  Empire,  whose  glorious  history 
has  extended  for  more  than  4000  years." 

America  and  China 
An  Editorial 

"  America  has  shown  herself  to  be  particularly  friendly  to  our 
people  in  the  past  two  years,  her  munificent  contribution  of  over 
a  million  dollars  to  the  Kiangpeh  Famine  Relief  Fund  and  the 
relinquishment  to  our  Government  of  over  thirty  million  taels, 
the  larger  portion  of  the  indemnity  awarded  to  her  as  damages 
for  the  Boxer  outbreak  in  1901,  having  created  a  very  favourable 
impression  on  the  intelligent  portion  of  our  people.  It  was  but 
natural,  therefore,  that  when  the  proposal  for  giving  a  cordial 
reception  to  Secretary  Taft  was  suggested,  the  Chinese  residents 
of  this  city  greeted  it  with  warm  approval.  The  Garden  Party 
itself  and  the  speeches  delivered  have  been  so  fully  recorded  in 
the  daily  papers,  that  it  is  unnecessary  for  us  to  give  any  further 
description. 

"  In  view  of  the  dangerous  i)osition  of  our  country  from  the 
standpoint  of  international  politics,  it  is  indeed  a  great  relief  to 


FROM  THE  CHINESE  POINT  OF  VIEW  33 

know  that  at  least  one  great  Power  will  see  to  it  that  our 
country  receives  fair-play  and  justice.  The  sympathetic  attitude, 
too,  of  the  American  people  towards  our  efforts  in  measures  of 
reform  should  act  as  an  incentive  towai'ds  still  greater  efforts,  so 
that  the  day  will  soon  arrive  when  China  and  America,  the  one 
on  the  Western  and  the  other  on  the  Eastern  coast  of  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  will  appear  before  the  world  as  equal  and  friendly  Powers, 
the  champions  of  right  and  justice  and  of  peace  in  the  Far  East." 

The  Value  of  Studying  English 
An  Editorial 

"The  English  language,  let  us  assert,  is  the  best  foreign 
language,  and  should  be  accorded  the  first  place  in  our  schools, — 
all  others  are  of  secondary  importance.  We  do  not  say  this 
because  we  happen  to  know  the  language  (for  one's  sympathies 
naturally  incline  towards  the  country  whose  language  one  speaks), 
but  there  are  logical  grounds  for  our  assumption.  As  surely 
as  the  power  of  political  institutions  has  been  instrumental 
in  making  the  English  language  dominant  as  an  international 
language,  so  the  fact  is  equally  patent  that  the  foreign  language 
spoken  by  most  people  of  a  country  like  China  influences 
immensely  the  character  of  her  budding  political  institutions. 

"  From  this  the  inference  may  be  drawn  that  the  political 
institutions  worked  out  in  England  have  influenced  modern 
thought  more  powerfully  than  those  of  other  countries.  Those 
acquainted  with  American  history  know  the  spirit  of  personal 
initiative  and  individual  independence  of  the  early  English 
settlers ;  these  traits  still  characterise  their  descendants,  the 
Americans  of  to-day.  The  Anglo-Saxons  carry  their  political 
and  social  institutions  with  them  wherever  they  go,  and  guard 
most  jealously  against  any  attempts  calculated  to  infringe  upon 
their  liberties — instances  of  which  we  have  witnessed  even  in 
China. 

"  It  is  for  these  reasons,  far  from  being  sentimental,  that  we 
consider  the  English  language  as  superior  to  all  others.  Aside 
from   the  fact  that   its    mastery  furnishes  one  the  key  to  the 

D 


34  PRESENT-DAY  CONDITIONS  IN  CHINA 

world's  richest  store  of  learning  and  wisdom,  the  language  itself 
abounds  in  words  and  phrases  which  it  is  impossible  to  utter 
without  remembering  the  love  of  liberty  and  country,  devotion 
to  conscience  and  principle,  and  without  calling  to  mind  the 
political  institutions  of  the  English  and  American  peoples. 
Magna  Charta,  Parliament,  Bunker  Hill,  Lexington,  Congress — 
these  are  some  of  the  words  that  mark  the  various  epochs  in 
the  glorious  career  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race." 

Chinese  Students  and  the  World's  Evangelisation 

From  an  Address  by  C.  T.  Wang  at  Tokio  Students'  Conference 

"  The  students  of  the  Orient  are  responsible  for  the  world's 
evangelisation,  because  Our  Lord  was  an  Oriental.  This  may 
sound  a  little  strange  in  the  ears  of  Occidentals ;  but  to  Orientals 
a  statement  like  this  carries  much  weight.  That  Orientals  have 
their  own  way  of  thinking  and  acting  is  their  singular  character- 
istic. They  do  not  readily  take  in  things  that  are  not  Oriental, 
but  among  themselves  they  copy  one  another  freely.  Buddhism 
was  introduced  from  India,  yet  the  Chinese  and  other  Oriental 
countries  have  never  regarded  it  as  a  foreign  religion.  Con- 
fucianism was  taken  up  by  the  Japanese  and  Koreans  without 
even  a  thought  that  it  was  a  foreign  religion.  But  Christianity 
is  eyed  with  grave  suspicion  that  it  is  a  foreign  or  Western 
religion.  Much  hindrance  to  the  propagation  of  the  blessed 
Gospel  is  the  outcome  of  this  prejudice.  The  Oriental  students 
are,  therefore,  responsible  for  the  exposition  of  their  Lord's 
teachings  in  the  Oriental  way,  for  He  was  in  His  teachings, 
environment,  customs,  and  expressions  an  Oriental." 


VIII 
'TO  KJEEP  THEM  ALIVE  IN  FAMINE' 

"  If  thou  draw  out  thy  soul  to  the  hungry,  and  satisfy  the  afflicted  soul ; 
then  shall  thy  light  rise  in  darkness,  and  thine  obscurity  shall  be  as  the  mid- 
day :  and  the  Lord  shall  guide  thee  continually,  and  satisfy  thy  soul  in  dry 
places,  and  make  strong  thy  bones ;  and  thou  shalt  be  like  a  watered  garden, 
and  like  a  spring  of  water,  whose  waters  fail  not." — Isaiah  Iviii.  10-11. 

Amid  the  rivalry  of  nations  and  the  too  frequent  exploiting  of 
the  Aveaker  nation  by  the  stronger,  the  following  brief  account 
of  united  action  on  the  part  of  peoples  of  different  countries  and 
creeds  in  a  work  of  mercy  will  be  read  with  gratitude  and 
pleasure.  While  the  names  of  C.I.M.  workers  may  be  mentioned, 
it  is  with  no  intention  of  overlooking  the  equally  self-sacrificing 
labour  of  members  of  other  Societies. 

Not  since  the  dreadful  famine  of  1877,  when  some  nine 
million  persons  are  computed  to  have  perished,  has  China  been 
called  to  face  such  harrowing  conditions  as  prevailed  last  year 
in  the  north  of  Kiangsu  and  parts  of  Anhwei  and  Honan. 
Through  abnormal  rains  and  neglect  of  provision  for  drainage 
possible  by  modern  engineering  skill,  the  canals,  which  in  some 
places  are  twenty  feet  above  the  level  of  the  surrounding  country, 
burst  their  banks  and  flooded  a  tract  of  land  almost  equal  in 
area  to  the  whole  of  England. 

Words  altogether  fail  to  picture  the  utter  helplessness  and 
misery  which  immediately  prevailed,  nor  would  we  portray 
things  as  they  were  even  if  we  could.  Captain  Walter  Kirton, 
a  hardened  campaigner,  writes  in  his  book  The  Silent  War  as 
follows  : — 

35 


36  PRESENT-DAY  CONDITIONS  IN  CHINA 

"The  appearance  of  the  refugees  beggars  description."  (Here 
follows  a  passage  too  realistic  to  quote.)  "Never  before  have  I 
seen  or  even  imagined  such  beings  as  I  saw  here.  I  have  seen 
life  and  death  in  their  crudest  forms  :  battle,  murder,  sudden 
death — and  worse — but  never  before  have  I  seen  such  concen- 
trated misery,  such  indescribable  horrors  as  were  to  be  witnessed 
in  the  streets  and  in  the  camps  outside  the  city  of  Tsingkiangpu." 

Into  this  living  sea  of  misery  the  missionaries  nobly  plunged, 
assisted  and  supported  by  the  munificent  generosity  of  many 
both  in  China  and  the  home  lands,  especially  America.  Early 
in  the  day  the  Chinkiang  Missionary  Association  foresaw  the 
coming  sorrows  and  speedily  organised  a  Committee,  their 
example  being  followed  in  Shanghai,  where  Mr.  E.  S.  Little 
formed  a  Central  China  Famine  Relief  Committee,  while  the 
Chinese  on  their  part  were  stimulated  and  provoked  to  generous 
action.  '; 

The  Chinkiang  Committee  raised  $450,000,  the  Central 
China  Relief  Fund  amounted  to  704,279  taels,  while  the  Chinese 
Government,  the  Shanghai  Chinese  Chamber  of  Commerce,  etc., 
contributed  $1,678,819,  making  in  all  a  sum  roughly  equal  to 
£315,000. 

Unfortunately  the  appeal  made  to  the  Lord  Mayor  of  London 
failed  through  pressure  of  other  claims,  but  President  Roosevelt 
nobly  responded  with  a  call  to  his  country  at  the  Christmas 
season.  His  appeal,  dated  "The  White  House,  Washington, 
December  24,  1906,"  contained  the  following  words: — 

"  Amid  our  abounding  prosperity,  and  in  this  holiday  season 
of  goodwill  to  men,  assuredly  we  should  do  our  part  to  aid  the 
unfortunate  and  relieve  the  distressed  among  the  people  of  China." 

Two-thirds  of  the  funds  raised  by  the  Central  China  Famine 
Committee  came  from  America ;  the  Christian  Herald  of  New 
York  collected  and  forwarded  no  less  than  $450,000  gold ;  and 
Congress  authorised  the  employment  of  two  ti'ansports  to  carry 
corn  given  by  the  American  farmers.  Surely,  says  the  official 
report,  this  "  was  a  blessed  anticipation  of  the  time  when  armies 
shall  beat  their  spears  into  pruning-hooks,  and  nations  shall  learn 
war  no  more." 


'TO  KEEP  THEM  ALIVE  IN  FAMINE'  37 

The  difficulties,  however,  of  doing  good  were  not  small  nor 
easily  overcome.  Diplomatic,  religious,  and  racial  obstacles 
threatened  at  times  to  make  aid  impossible.  H.E.  Tuan  Fang, 
a  man  who  at  considerable  risk  saved  the  lives  of  many 
missionaries  during  1900,  showed  great  reluctance  in  granting 
liberty  for  foreigners  to  engage  in  relief  work.  Fears  that  it 
might  be  used  by  missionaries  as  an  aid  to  proselytising,  that 
hungry  mobs  might  kill  the  workers  and  indemnities  greater 
than  the  benefit  might  be  demanded,  were  all  employed  as 
arguments  against  permission  being  granted.  To  reassure  the 
Viceroy,  the  Protestant  missionaries  promised  that  in  the  event 
of  death  no  indemnity  should  be  claimed  (the  Roman  Catholics 
demurred);  and  with  a  maladroitness  almost  culpable,  notifications 
were  sent  by  the  Viceroy  to  the  local  officials  stating  that  no 
redress  would  be  sought  if  foreigners  were  killed,  an  intimation 
in  China  tantamount  to  a  desire  for  anti-foreign  disturbances. 

These  difficulties  were,  however,  surmounted.  A  protest  to 
the  Viceroy  secured  the  needed  protection,  and  from  that  time 
onward  nothing  but  the  utmost  gratitude  was  shown  to  the 
missionaries  throughout  the  famine  district. 

The  methods  adopted  by  the  workers  were  those  of  giving 
food,  not  money,  and  of  employing  labour  to  prevent  pauperisa- 
tion, and  also  to  accomplish  needed  work.  To  have  given  money 
would  but  have  enriched  those  who  sought  to  corner  grain, 
whereas  the  importation  of  food  prevented  such  cruel  speculation 
and  released  the  supplies  which  some  were  keeping  in  hopes  of 
higher  prices. 

To  tell  of  all  the  work  accomplished  and  the  good  done 
would  be  impossible.  A  few  extracts  from  letters  and  reports 
are  all  that  is  possible.  The  following  from  Mr.  Burgess's  pen 
gives  a  good  idea  of  the  labour  undertaken. 

"  Miss  Eeid  has  been  the  pen-holder  and  I  the  spade-holder. 
Our  first  work  with  1500  men  was  the  filling  of  the  Temple 
swamp  close  to  the  East  Gate.  We  used  the  Shanghai  funds 
from  the  sales  of  flour  for  the  first  part  of  that  work.  About 
three  acres  are  filled  and  to  the  depth  of  eight  to  ten  feet. 

"  The  second  work  was  the  making  of  a  high-road  outside  the 


38  PRESENT-DAY  CONDITIONS  IN  CHINA 

East  Gate,  and  running  around  the  houses  to  the  Yellow  River 
bank,  and  west  over  the  swamp  across  the  stone  bridge  to  the 
direct  road  going  north.  This  latter  part  was  built  through  the 
water.  After  this  we  employed  some  3000  men  to  dig  ten 
miles  of  the  Min  Tien  River,  which  runs  in  a  northerly  direction 
from  the  city.  1500  men  continued  road-making  inside  the  city 
at  the  same  time. 

"  Our  next  great  work  was  to  reduce  the  flood  of  water  bottled 
up  inside  the  city,  and  to  commence  the  new  canal,  which  runs 
from  the  North  Gate  to  the  West  Gate,  and  on  through  a 
swamp,  and  across  the  line  of  a  branch  dyke  of  the  Yellow 
River,  and  down  the  old  bed  of  the  Pan  River  into  the  Salt 
River. 

"  We  have  built  a  road  all  round  the  city  wall ;  another  from 
the  West  Gate  to  the  Magistrate's  residence  and  Court.  This 
road  was  under  two  or  three  feet  of  water.  Another  road  from 
the  West  Gate  to  the  South  Gate,  and  some  four  roads  running 
south  across  to  the  north  main  roads,  two  roads  by  the  pagoda, 
two  roads  east  and  west  of  the  Court.  We  have  also  re-dug, 
widened,  and  deepened  every  main  drain  of  the  city.  The  flour 
temple  courtyards  were  filled  and  raised.  Four  feet  of  flood 
water  has  been  run  out  of  the  city  and  scores  of  acres  of  land 
recovered.  The  roads  from  the  East  Gate  to  the  North  Gate, 
and  from  the  Court  House  to  the  West  Gate  have  been  paved 
with  stone,  and  large  stone  surface  drains  laid  on  the  East  Street 
into  the  swamp.  One  stone  well  and  two  underground  drains 
were  made.  We  are  building  up  the  broken  city  wall.  You 
will  see,  on  the  enclosed  photo,  the  road  which  I  threw  up  over 
the  top  of  the  city  wall.  This  allowed  the  passage  of  thousands 
of  men  daily  with  loads  for  the  making  of  the  central  city  roads. 
We  also  made  a  back-street  road  from  the  North  Gate  around  to 
the  back  of  the  main  city  street,  and  extending  west  as  far  as  the 
houses  occur.  This  allows  barrows  of  wood,  reeds,  etc.,  to  reach 
the  back  door  of  the  merchants'  houses  without  blocking  the 
traffic  on  the  main  streets. 

"We  planted  about  2000  willow  trees;  you  can  see  the  row 
from  the  East  to  the  West  Gate  of  the  city.     Alas !  the  poor 


'TO  KEEP  THEM  ALIVE  IN  FAMINE'  39 

destitute  folk  tore  the  majority  of  the  saplings  up  for  firewood. 
We  built  three  large  bridges  inside  the  city ;  nine  drain  bridges 
and  one  large  bridge  two  and  a  half  miles  down  the  Min  Tien 
Kiver.  We  built  the  stone  block  lock  on  the  canal.  My 
carpenters,  besides  the  bridges,  have  built  four  sets  of  gymnastic 
bars,  a  large  covered  scaffold  for  trapeze,  stirrups,  and  swing 
bars,  and  one  water-wheel. 

"  With  Mission  funds  we  raised  the  ground-floor  of  our  station 
some  two  feet  higher,  paved  it  over  with  stones,  relaid  the 
drains,  and  put  in  a  door  and  rain-cover. 

"  The  North  Gate  Temple  was  handed  over  to  me,  and  the  idol 
moved  out  (his  head  rolled  off  in  the  exertion).  The  Temple 
was  renovated  and  turned  into  a  public  market.  We  filled  in 
the  whole  of  that  corner  and  placed  the  two  bridges  there ;  this 
will  give  them  ample  ground  for  a  market.  The  local  gentry 
were  to  complete  the  scheme,  by  covering  and  cleaning  the 
Temple  and  building  rain-sheds  round.  In  ancient  times  this 
corner  was  the  salt  market,  and  in  restoring  it  to  its  original 
use  the  local  officials  and  gentry  are  sure  that  we  have  the 
spirit  of  the  ancients. 

"  We  dug  up  scores  of  old  coffins,  but  no  bones  remained 
within,  and  we  had  to  bury  twenty  loads  of  refugee  skeletons. 
The  latter  pari  of  the  work  engaged  11,000  men,  and  the  3000 
to  4000  mud-carriers  employed  perhaps  half  that  number  as 
assistants  to  bring  the  earth  a  part  of  the  way  for  them,  the 
assistants  generally  being  their  own  relatives. 

"  Men,  miles,  and  mud.  It  seems  to  me  in  retrospect  that 
this  is  all  there  is  to  record  of  the  relief  work  in  Antung." 

Amongst  those  in  the  C.I.M.  who  have  laboured  in  this 
merciful  work  are  Miss  M.  A.  Eeid,  Miss  E.  Triidinger, 
Messrs.  0.  Burgess,  E.  A.  M'Culloch,  W.  E.  Tyler,  H.  J. 
Mungeam,  A.  Gracie,  C.  J.  Jenson,  G.  H.  Parsons,  and  others. 
We  may  be  pardoned  for  quoting  a  few  lines  from  the  Official 
Eeport  issued  by  the  Central  China  Famine  Eelief  Committee 
which  make  some  kind  acknowledgment  of  these  missionaries' 
laboiu"3. 

Speaking  of   the   ladies  who   bravely  faced  the   worst,  the 


40  PRESENT-DAY  CONDITIONS  IN  CHINA 

Report  says :  "  The  distress  of  these  ladies  when  they  saw  the 
sufferings  of  the  starving  peasantry  was  very  deep ;  their  joy  in 
the  distribution  of  relief  was  correspondingly  great.  But  such 
relief  work  involved  prolonged  physical  exertion  of  the  most 
exhausting  kind,  and  necessitated  that,  for  months,  they  lived 
breathing  the  same  air  and  being  in  intimate  personal  contact 
with  a  mass  of  humanity  degraded  almost  to  the  level  of  the 
brute."  Miss  M.  A.  Reid  was  unfortunately  subsequently  laid 
low  with  typhoid,  but  in  the  mercy  of  God  recovered. 

Of  Mr.  Burgess  the  Official  Report  says  :  "  In  Mr.  Oliver 
Burgess  of  the  C.I.M.  we  happily  found  a  man  peculiarly 
qualified  to  organise  and  direct  large  bodies  of  workmen.  Mr. 
Burgess  has  lived  in  the  interior  of  China  for  nearly  twenty 
years,  and  is  familiar  with  the  people  and  their  language.  He 
was  on  his  way  to  Chefoo  seeking  rest  and  quiet  when  the  call 
for  workers  reached  him,  and  instead  of  going  to  the  Sanatorium 
he  plunged  into  the  relief  work  and  endured  a  physical  and 
mental  strain  of  the  most  exacting  nature." 

Somewhat  humorously  the  Report  proceeds  : 

"  If  the  Viceroy  of  Nanking  knew  of  the  valuable  public 
works  carried  out  by  Mr.  Burgess,  and  could  be  persuaded  to 
appoint  that  energetic  missionary  Taotai  of  the  conservancy  of 
the  Yellow  River,  that  wayward  torrent,  so  long  as  Mr.  Burgess 
had  office,  would  liave  to  keep  within  its  bounds." 

What  those  valuable  public  works  are  may  be  seen  by  a 
glance  at  the  following  summary  prepared  by  the  Rev.  A.  R. 
Saunders  of  the  C.I.M.  : — 

"  I  have  carefully  tabulated,  from  actual  measurements,  the 
amount  of  work  done,  feeling  that  the  kind  contributors  to  the 
fund  would  be  interested  in  the  statement  as  below : — 

30  miles  of  road  repaired  in  the  country. 

13,000  square  yards  of  swamp  (3  feet  deep)  within  the  city  filled  in. 
The  earth  for  filling  in  was  carried  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile. 

12,744  yards  of  roads  (4  yards  wide)  made  in  the  city  on  the  re- 
claimed land. 

9460  yards  of  ditches  dug,  9  feet  wide  by  4  feet  deep. 

34,364   yards  (about  20  miles)  of   canal  dug,   re-dug,  or  deepened. 


'TO  KEEP  THEM  ALIVE  IN  FAMINE'  41 

8444  yards  (nearly  5  miles)  of  this  is  an  entirely  new  canal,  and 
connects  the  city  of  Antung  with  the  Salt  River.  These  canals 
are  about  30  yards  wide." 

The  price  paid  in  this  famine  relief  has  been  more  than 
money  and  hard  labour.  It  has  been  life  for  life.  Four  brave 
workers  have  laid  down  their  lives  in  their  toil  for  the  perishing 
either  through  famine,  fever,  or  over-exertion  :  Dr.  J.  E.  Williams 
of  the  C.I.M. ;  Dr.  J.  Lynch,  the  Chinkiang  port  doctor;  Eev. 
W.  S.  Farris  and  Rev.  J.  R  Jones,  both  of  the  American 
Presbyterian  Mission. 

With  them  it  is  Far  Better ;  but  to  the  widows  and  the 
bereaved  loved  ones  left  behind  the  sorrow  remains  : 

'Tis  these,  not  they,  that  tasted  death. 

May  "  the  blessing  of  him  that  was  ready  to  perish  "  come 
upon  them  and  cause  "  the  widow's  heart  to  sing  for  joy  "  ! 


IX 

THE   BEST   BOOK   FOR   CHINA 

"I  speak  to  missionaries;  read  the  Bible,  for  you  have  nothing  worthy 
of  your  life-long  exile  in  a  strange  land,  nor  to  communicate  to  its  people, 
but  the  contents  of  these  divine  pages.  .  .  .  Read  it  .  .  .  and  you  will 
inevitably  attract,  and  be  attracted  by,  those  who  under  other  denominations 
are  doing  likewise,  you  and  they  alike  converging  more  and  more  towards 
Jesus  Christ  as  the  focus  of  your  common  interest  and  affection.  There  is 
no  such  edifying,  there  is  no  such  unifying  source  of  sacred  influence  as  your 
Bible,  '  magnified  by  God  above  all  His  Name.'  " — The  Centenary  Sebmon 
by  Bishop  G.  E.  Moule. 

With  the  exception  of  the  Jews,  there  are  probably  no  people 
who  have  cherished  with  such  veneration  the  written  or  printed 
page  as  the  Chinese.  To  them  the  very  characters  are  sacred, 
and  "  respect  for  printed  paper  "  leads  many  to  engage  in  the 
meritorious  work  of  collecting  and  reverently  burning  in  some 
shrine  any  stray  pieces  of  printed  paper  found  lying  about. 

Dr,  Morrison,  writing  from  Canton  as  early  as  September 
14,  1808,  remarked:  "The  professed  esteem  of  my  people  for 
Confucius  is  unbounded.  In  reading  with  me  the  '  Four  Books  ' 
they  seem  quite  enraptured.  In  his  'Great  Science'  (Great 
Learning)  there  are  but  205  characters.  In  the  comment  by 
his  pupil  Tsang-tsze,  who  collected  his  sayings,  there  are  1546, 
and  to  these  they  give  the  most  unlimited  assent,  as  though 
inspired  of  God. 

"There  is  not  in  them,  they  say,  one  jot  or  tittle  that  is 
erroneous.  The  very  particles,  moreover,  which  in  other  books 
are  mere  expletives,  are  here  full  of  meaning ;  and  there  is  in 
the   reasoning  of   the  philosopher,  they  affirm,  a  depth  which 

42 


THE  BEST  BOOK  FOR  CHINA  43 

requires   the   utmost  sagacity  to  fathom,  and  a  fulness  which 
demands  a  long  paraphrase  to  unfold." 

It  was  surely  eminently  desirable  that  a  people  thus  devoted 
to  literature  should  have  given  them  the  Sacred  Book,  which 
alone  is  able  to  make  them  wise  unto  salvation.  But  added  to 
this  reverence  for  their  own  literature  there  was  a  contempt  for 
any  other — a  contempt  which  is  only  now  beginning  to  yield, 
and  concerning  which  another  quotation  from  Dr.  Morrison's 
diary  of  July  15,  1808,  may  be  given. 

"My  two  people,"  he  writes,  "agreed  in  considering  it  alto- 
gether useless  to  be  at  any  trouble  to  know  anything  of 
foreigners.  The  Celestial  Empire  has  everything  in  itself  that  it 
is  desirable  either  to  possess  or  to  know.  As  the  most  learned 
never  acquire  the  whole  of  the  literature  of  China,  why  then 
concern  themselves  about  that  which  is  exotic  1  With  regard  to 
religion  and  morality,  the  depths  of  knowledge  contained  in  the 
'  Four  Books  '  have  never  been  fathomed  ;  and  till  that  is  done 
it  is  folly  to  attend  to  any  other." 

Thus  was  Dr.  Morrison  confronted  with  at  once  the  most 
literary  of  peoples  and  yet  the  most  bigoted  and  contemptuous. 
These  words,  written  by  Dr.  Morrison  one  hundred  years  ago, 
would  with  almost  equal  exactness  have  described  the  Chinese 
mental  attitude  only  a  few  years  ago.  But  to-day  the  situation 
is  rapidly  changing.  With  the  publication  of  China's  Only  Hope 
by  H.E.  Chang  Chihtung,  which  book  was  a  strong  appeal  to 
the  nation  to  study  foreign  methods,  it  became  apparent  that 
China  was  beginning  to  move. 

For  so  vast  and  so  conservative  a  people  the  change  has  been 
remarkable.  From  an  analysis  of  foreign  works  translated  into 
Chinese  made  three  or  four  years  ago,  it  appeared  that  over  one 
thousand  Western  publications  were  already  in  wide  circulation 
throughout  China,  and  a  more  recent  statement  shows  that  the 
number  of  Western  novels  translated  into  Chinese  has  advanced 
from  21  in  1904  to  no  less  than  120  to-day. 

Not  only  is  the  variety  of  Western  literature  increasing  in 
China,  but  astonishingly  large  editions  are  being  called  for,  one 
book  having  an   edition  of    350,000    and  another  of   150,000 


44  PRESENT-DAY  CONDITIONS  IN  CHINA 

within  eighteen  months.  It  will  be  readily  recognised,  in  the 
light  of  Dr.  Morrison's  statement  made  above,  that  these  facts 
indicate  a  tremendous  mental  revolution. 

In  bringing  about  this  great  change  the  Bible  has  held  the 
first  and  pre-eminent  place  throughout,  and  now  that  not  a  little 
pernicious  literature  is  entering  the  country  and  finding  an  ail- 
too -ready  sale,  there  is  great  need  that  every  effort  be  put 
forth  to  enlarge  the  circulation  of  the  Scriptures  and  Christian 
literature. 

While  not  forgetting  the  work  of  the  Nestorians  and  early 
Roman  Catholics,  which,  however,  were  not  put  into  public 
circulation,  the  Bible  was  the  first  book  in  modern  times  to  be 
translated  into  Chinese  ^  and  to  be  circulated  among  that  people. 
Previous  to  this  there  were  not  a  few  who  even  held  that  such 
a  translation  was  an  impossibility. 

Who  shall  measure  the  boon  and  blessing  this  has  already 
been  to  China.  "  To  have  Moses,  David,  and  the  prophets, 
Jesus  Christ  and  His  apostles,  using  their  own  words  and  thereby 
declaring  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  land  the  wonderful  works  of 
God,  indicates,  I  hope,  the  speedy  introduction  of  a  happier  era 
into  these  parts  of  the  world ;  and  I  trust  that  the  gloomy 
darkness  of  pagan  scepticism  will  be  dispelled  by  the  Dayspring 
from  on  high."  Thus  wrote  Dr.  Morrison  when  announcing 
the  completion  of  the  great  task  of  translating  the  whole  Bible 
into  Chinese. 

Thank  God,  no  book  recently  introduced  into  China  has  had 
a  circulation  comparable  to  that  obtained  by  the  Bible,  though 
probably  many  Buddhist  works — not  to  speak  of  the  Confucian 
classics — are  far  more  widely  known.  Is  it  too  much  to  hope 
that  the  day  may  not  be  long  delayed  when  the  Holy  Bible 
shall  be  as  widely  read  as  the  Confucian  classics  1  It  is  stated 
that  should  every  copy  of  the  Confucian  classics  be  destroyed 

^  "The  religious  books  of  the  Buddhists,  which  are  miserably  done,  and  of  the 
Romanists,  some  of  which  are  elegant,  are  the  only  works  they  have  rendered 
into  Chinese  ;  for  the  scientific  books  printed  under  the  direction  of  the  Jesuit 
missionaries  were  not  translations  of  any  whole  treatise,  but  works  containing, 
generally,  European  ideas,  composed  in  Chinese  by  natives." — Dr.  Morrison,  see 
his  Memoir,  vol.  ii.  pp.  6,  7. 


Scripture  Portions  circulated  in  1878,  about  100,000. 


Average  number  of 
Scripture  Portions 
circulated  annually 
during  40  years,  1814- 
1855,  about  4000. 


From  a  ])hoto  of  Bibles 
taken  at  the  British  and 
Foreign  Bible  (Society, 
.specially  photographed 
by  kind  permission. 


Scripture  Portions  circulated  in  190.'),  2,603,620. 

DiAGHAM   SHOWING   THE    CIRCULATION    OF   THE   SciUPTUIiKS   IN    CHINESE  ;   EACH   BOOK    IN   THE 
DIAGRAM   REPRESENTS    1000   COPIES   OF   SCRIPTURE    PORTIONS. 

To  face  page  45. 


THE  BEST  BOOK  FOR  CHINA  45 

to-day,  the  letter  is  so  engraven  upon  the  minds  and  memories  of 
the  scholars  of  China  that  one  million  persons  could  to-morrow 
reproduce  the  whole.  When  shall  the  word  of  Christ  thus  richly 
dwell  in  the  hearts  and  affections  of  this  people  ? 

During  the  year  1906  the  circulation  of  the  Scriptures  in 
China  as  provided  by  the  three  great  Bible  Societies  was  as 
follows : — 

The  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society    .  .      1,084,311 

The  National  Bible  Society  of  Scotland  .  948,007 

The  American  Bible  Society  ....         497,659 


Total       ....     2,529,977 

These  bring  the  total  circulation  of  the  Word  of  God  in  China 
from  the  commencement  up  to  1907  to  379,243  Bibles,  2,347,057 
New  Testaments,  and  31,128,939  portions,  or  33,855,239  in  all. 

During  1907  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  circulated 
1,212,409  Scriptures  and  the  National  Bible  Society  of  Scotland 
909,167,  so  that,  with  the  American  Bible  Society,  the  total 
figures  up  to  date  will  be  about  36,500,000. 

From  Shanghai  on  the  east  to  the  borders  of  Tibet  on  the 
west,  from  Canton  on  the  south  to  the  extremes  of  Manchuria 
and  Mongolia,  the  Bible  Societies'  colporteurs  and  the  Missionary 
Societies  have  spread  broadcast  the  Word  of  God. 

But  the  task  of  giving  the  Bible  to  the  Chinese  is  greater 
than  most  people  imagine.  If  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society,  which  has  been  founded  for  over  100  years,  and  the 
American  Bible  Society  and  the  National  Bible  Society  of 
Scotland,  had  decided  from  their  foundation  to  neglect  every 
other  country  in  the  world  and  to  concentrate  their  energies  on 
China  alone,  the  total  of  their  circulation  from  the  commence- 
ment of  their  labours  would  not  have  done  more  than  give  the 
Bible  to  one-fifth  of  the  Chinese  people,  and  one  Gospel  to  three 
out  of  every  four. 

Let  the  famous  British  Museum  Library  be  taken  as  an 
illustration.     In  this  library  there  are  some  44  miles  of  book- 


46  PRESENT-DAY  CONDITIONS  IN  CHINA 

shelves,  containing  in  all  some  2,000,000  volumes.  If  every  book 
were  a  Chinese  Bible,  it  would  take  200  such  libraries  to  give 
to  every  Chinese  man,  woman,  and  child  one  copy  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures.  Although  the  circulation  of  the  Scriptures  in 
China  has  recently  exceeded  2^  millions  per  annum,  160  years 
would  be  needed  at  this  rate  to  give  the  whole  of  the  Chinese 
people  one  Scripture  portion.  £3,000,000  would  be  needed  to 
give  one  Gospel  to  every  Chinese  throughout  the  Empire. 

To  quote  the  words  of  an  American  journalist  who  has  lately 
been  engaged  in  the  study  of  Missions,  "This  big  task  calls 
for  large  measure.  The  brains  which  have  created  the  vast 
commercial  enterprises  of  the  twentieth  century  must  attack  this 
work  with  equal  adequateness.  This  undertaking  is  too  great 
to  be  maintained  on  a  basis  of  pretty,  pathetic,  or  heroic  stories. 
Unless  it  be  established  on  a  firm  basis  of  principle  and  purpose, 
by  men  who  have  the  vision  and  courage  and  resourcefulness 
to  plan  tremendously  and  persist  unfalteringly,  the  missionary 
work  that  the  conditions  imperatively  demand  cannot  be  success- 
fully accomplished." 


Photo  by] 


[The  Arthts-  lUugtralloti  Co. 


The  Bkivish  Museum  Reading  Eoom. 


This  famous  Reading  Room  contains  70,01)0  volumes,  while  the  whole  Library,  which  is  built  around  the 
Reading  Room,  contains  some  44  miles  of  book-shelves  (shelves,  not  cases),  containing  in  all  about  2,000,000 
volumes.  If  every  book  were  a  copy  of  one  of  the  Scriptures  in  Chinese,  the  number  would  not  equal  the 
circulation  of  the  Scriptures  in  China  last  year.  If  every  book  were  a  copy  of  the  Chinese  Bible  it  would  need 
200  such  libraries  to  supply  each  Cliinese  man,  woman,  and  child  with  a  Bible.  It  would  cost  £3,000,000  to 
give  one  Scripture  portion  only,  to  every  Cliinese  throughout  the  Empire. 

To  face  page  46. 


CHINA'S  SPIRITUAL  DESTITUTION 

' '  Resolved — (a)  that  the  new  political  and  social  conditions  in  China 
render  it  possible  that  every  individual  in  the  Empire  may  now  be  reached 
with  such  a  knowledge  of  the  world-saving  mission,  the  redeeming  death 
and  resurrection,  and  the  heart-transt'ormiug  power  of  Jesus  Christ  as  will 
suffice  for  the  acceptance  of  Him  as  a  personal  Saviour." 

"(b)  That  we  appeal  to  the  whole  Christian  world  to  rise  in  its  might, 
and,  trusting  to  the  guidance  of  Almighty  God,  realise  more  adequately 
its  responsibility  in  this  gigantic  undertaking." — Resolution  of  the 
Shanghai  Conference,  1907. 

The  preceding  chapters  will  have  altogether  failed  in  their 
purpose  if  they  have  not  impressed  the  reader  with  the  urgent 
necessity  for  a  great  advance,  at  the  present  juncture,  in 
Christian  effort.  "Merc  civilisation,"  wrote  the  late  Bishop 
Hoare,  "is  not  sufficiently  powerful  to  effect  the  necessary 
changes  in  the  moral  and  social  life  of  the  Chinese.  Civilisation 
may  lead  them  to  adopt  for  their  own  use,  and  even  to  develop, 
the  products  of  Western  science.  Civilisation  may  lead  them  to 
change  some  of  their  habits  of  life,  to  wear  different  clothes  or  to 
eat  different  food  in  a  different  way.  But  history  gives  us  no 
instance  of  civilisation  changing  the  moral  nature  of  a  nation. 
It  did  not  do  so  in  Greece ;  it  did  not  do  so  in  Rome ;  it  has 
not  done  so  in  modern  nations  which  have  adopted  civilisation 
without  Christianity.  Nor  has  it  done  so,  so  far  as  the 
experiment  has  been  tried,  among  those  Chinese  who  have  more 
or  less  adopted  Western  civilisation,  while  still  untouched  by 
the  Divine  life  of  Christianity." 

47 


48  PRESENT-DAY  CONDITIONS  IN  CHINA 

The  workers  on  the  field  have  fully  recognised  the  truth  of 
Bishop  Hoare's  statement  and  the  critical  importance  of  an 
immediate  advance,  and  therefore  resolved,  as  mentioned  above, 
to  appeal  to  the  whole  Christian  Church  for  a  more  worthy 
response  to  the  unparalleled  opportunities  which  exist.  "  The 
secret  of  victory,"  Napoleon  said,  "is  to  bring  up  the  reserves 
when  the  struggle  is  at  its  crisis."  That  is  unquestionably  the 
situation  and  the  wise  policy  of  to-day. 

It  is  this  truth  that  has  given  to  the  workers  in  China  the 
great  ambition  to  inaugurate  a  united  effort  so  as  to  secure  the 
evangelisation  of  China  within  the  next  twenty  years ;  and  to 
secure  this  a  Committee  was  appointed  to  collate  and  tabulate 
such  information  as  should  be  necessary  to  organise  such  a 
movement. 

As  the  magnitude  of  this  undertaking  is  not  easily  grasped, 
the  following  pages  are  devoted  to  a  brief  consideration  of  what 
has  been  done  and  what  yet  needs  to  be  accomplished.  The 
diagram  on  the  cover  illustrates  the  greatness  of  China's, 
population.  What  would  it  be  thought  if  there  were  only  1443 
ordained  ministers  for  the  united  populations  of  Japan,  Great 
Britain,  Italy,  United  States  of  America,  European  Russia,  Spain 
and  Portugal,  France,  Austria,  and  Canada.  Yet  that  is  the 
total  number  of  male  missionaries  of  all  nationalities  and  all 
denominations  at  work  in  China. 

As  the  task  of  reviewing  the  whole  field  is  too  great  for  so 
small  a  pamphlet  as  this,  three  provinces — characteristic  of  all — 
have  been  selected  for  consideration.  What  is  true  of  these  is 
true  of  all.  With  the  diagram  maps  to  refer  to  there  will  not 
be  need  for  many  words. 

The  Province  of  Honan 

Honan  is  in  area,  as  the  figures  on  the  map  (see  inside  of  front 
cover)  will  show,  somewhat  larger  than  England  and  Wales,  or 
than  Scotland  and  Ireland  combined  ;  while  its  population  is 
greater  than  that  of  England  and  Wales  and  nearly  equal  to  that 
of  France.    Protestant  Missions  were  commenced  in  the  province 


CHINA'S  SPIRITUAL  DESTITUTION  49 

in  1875,  by  the  China  Inland  Mission,  though  no  permanent 
foothold  was  secured  until  1884.  There  are  now  some  ten 
Societies  labouring  there,^  with  a  total  of  112  foreign  missionaries 
including  wives  and  single  lady  workers.  The  total  number 
of  communicants  on  December  31,  1905,  was  1624,  of  which 
number  1058  were  connected  with  the  C.I.M.  and  406  with 
the  Canadian  Presbyterians. 

The  112  missionaries  are  located  at  twenty -nine  central 
stations,  of  which  twenty -six  are  walled  cities  and  three 
important  towns.  A  glance  at  the  map  may  do  what  words 
will  fail  to  accomplish.  On  that  map  no  fewer  than  1846 
cities,  towns,  and  important  villages  are  located,  while  there  are, 
in  addition,  countless  numbers  of  hamlets  and  villages  which 
cannot  be  marked.  Though  it  is  now  more  than  a  generation 
since  the  first  Protestant  missionaries  entered  the  province,  and 
over  twenty  years  since  the  first  permanent  station  was  opened, 
the  total  number  of  centres  occupied  by  all  Societies  (out-stations 
not  being  counted)  does  not  exceed  twenty-nine.  Here  lies 
part  of  the  problem  of  the  evangelisation  of  China,  and  let  it  be 
remembered  that  this  is  but  one  of  the  nineteen  provinces  of 
China  Proper. 

A  Contrast 

If,  for  the  sake  of  illustration,  the  Mission  force,  now  112 
persons,  could  be  equally  divided  into  small  groups  of  three, 
each  group  comprising  a  married  man  with  his  wife  and  one 
single  lady  worker,  there  would  be  thirty-eight  such  groups  in 
all.  Were  these  little  bands  of  workers  equally  distributed 
throughout  the  province,  each  band  would  have  a  parish  of  1788 
square  miles,  or  a  district  larger  than  Somerset  or  nearly  equal 
to  Lancashire,  in  area.  Each  such  parish  would  contain  a 
population  of  929,389  souls,  or  a  population  equal  to  that  of 
Birmingham  and  Leeds  combined. 

How  totally  inadequate  such  a  staff  is  for  the  evangelisation 
of  the  province,   there  is  no  need    to   discuss.     England   and 

^  For  particulars  see  The  Chinese  Empire,  publislied  by  the  C.I.M.  and  Morgan 
and  Scott,  Ltd.     7s.  6d.  net. 

£ 


50  PRESENT-DAY  CONDITIONS  IN  CHINA 

Wales,  which,  roughly  speaking,  are  together  equal  in  area  and 
population  to  Honan,  have  no  fewer  than  32,897  ordained 
ministers,  assisted  by  52,341  local  preachers;  while  the  average 
parish  of  each  ordained  minister,  if  overlapping  were  avoided, 
would  be  one  and  three-quarter  square  miles  with  an  average 
population  of  one  thousand  souls. 

The  Province  of  Yunnan 

Having  rapidly  reviewed  the  situation  in  the  central  province 
of  Honan,  we  may  now  turn  to  one  of  the  most  westerly  of 
China's  provinces — viz.  Yunnan. 

A  glance  at  the  figures  given  with  the  map  (see  inset)  and  at 
the  table  on  next  page  will  make  it  plain  that  Yunnan  is  in  area 
more  than  twice  that  of  England  and  Wales  with  a  population 
of  over  twelve  millions. 

Settled  Protestant  missionary  work  commenced  in  this  great 
and  needy  province  in  1881,  when  Mr.  George  Clarke  secured 
premises  at  Talifu  ;  Mr.  John  M'Carthy  having  travelled  through 
the  province  to  Burma  four  years  earlier.  In  1886  the  Bible 
Christian  Mission — then  associated  with  the  C.I.M.,  but  now 
federated  with  the  United  Methodist  Church — also  commenced 
work  in  Yunnan,  and  up  to  the  present  time  these  are  the  only 
two  Protestant  Societies  seeking  to  evangelise  the  twelve  millions 
of  this  south-west  portion  of  China. 

From  the  map  it  will  be  seen  that  though  the  province  has 
eighty  walled  official  cities,  with  thousands  of  towns  and  villages, 
the  total  number  of  central  Mission  stations  is  limited  to  six. 
(Bhamo  in  Burma  is  not  included.) 

The  average  parish  of  each  missionary  is  in  area  equal  to 
Wales,  whereas  a  comparison  in  the  matter  of  population  would 
necessitate  one  considering  the  people  of  Wales  with  only  three 
ministers,  or  the  people  of  Scotland  with  only  nine. 

In  Scotland  itself  there  are  1386  parishes,  with  1809  churches 
connected  with  the  Church  of  Scotland ;  1795  ordained  ministers 
connected  with  the  United  Free  Church,  and  328  clergy  con- 
nected with  the  Episcopal  Church ;  making  at  the  least  3500 


THE   I'RdVlNTE   (IK  YUNXAN 


THE    I  R0VIM.1 
OF  YLNNAN 


side; 


The  7  1  I 

moiid  a 
Protest- 

.Station 


■^J|J^  M   -,     M  Al  I 


'p^' 


(1. 


glc  ladie&J 


nnes  and  4  £ 
Climeae  Hclpeis 
Stations      (not      lucludiiip, 

Bhamo  anl  fihao  couutiv 

,>0,k) 

ritincsp  Oommniiitauts 


I,  ■  \ 


MlbSlONAR\    SIAFF 

7/     J,'/    ill  1/  li 

iliat-ionauts  (b  men     U  \vnts    and 

3  siugle  ladiesi) 
Chinese  Helpeia 
Stations  (not  int-ludin^  Mtao  tonii 

try  ft  oik) 
Chmi.se  Communicants 
Vbougincs  Lomnmnuants 
On  Timl 


are  tlio  t-ital  number  of  ProtesUnt  Jlib* 
3  Bible  Christians  have  2  Out-iitations. 


CHINA'S  SPIRITUAL  DESTITUTION 


51 


ordained  ministers  without  counting  the  small  Nonconformist 
bodies.  Instead  of  this  3500  ministers,  the  same  population  in 
the  province  of  Yunnan  has  only  9.  What  are  these  among  so 
many  ?  There  is  surely  cause  here  to  ask  Him  Who  multiplied 
the  loaves  and  fishes  to  multiply  and  bless  these  few  workers. 

A  Contrast 


England  and  Wales. 

Yunnan. 

Area 

Population  . 
Ordained  Ministry 

Local  Preachers  . 
Average  Parish    . 

58,309  sq.  miles 

32,526,075 

32,897 

52,341 
rif  sq.  miles. 

[lOOO  souls. 

146,680  sq.  miles. 

12,324,574. 

21  men  (12  wives,  7 

single  ladies). 
9 

'6985  sq.  miles — 
equal  to  Wales. 
"I  586,884  souls— equal 
I.  to  Birmingham. 

The  Province  of  Chihli 

Few  provinces,  if  any,  are  of  greater  interest  and  importance 
than  the  coast  province  of  Chihli,  the  seat  of  the  Central 
Government  of  China. 

Chihli  is  in  area  115,800  square  miles,  with  a  population 
computed  at  20,937,000,  which  is  approximately  equal  to 
Austria.  Missionary  eifort  is  chiefly  directed  to  the  more 
densely  populated  plains  of  the  south  rather  than  to  the 
scattered  Mongols  in  the  north.  Of  the  155  walled  official 
cities,  the  majority  are  south  of  the  Great  Wall. 

While  the  Roman  Catholics  entered  this  district  in  the 
thirteenth  century,  and  the  Greek  Church  some  two  hundred 
years  ago,  Protestant  Missions  may  be  said  to  have  commenced 
in  1860,  when  Dr.  Blodget,  of  the  American  Board,  began  to 
preach  in  the  streets  of  Tientsin,  if  a  brief  visit  of  Dr.  Gutzlaff 
in  1831  be  excepted. 

To-day  there  are  some  15  Protestant  Societies,  with  a  united 
staff  of  about  250  missionaries,  working  in  the  province.  Of 
the  workers,  120  are  men,  including  17  doctors.  Of  the  130 
ladies,  71  are  wives  and  9  lady  physicians. 

E  2 


52 


PRESENT-DAY  CONDITIONS  IN  CHINA 


After  nearly  fifty  years  of  work,  only  22  of  the  155  walled 
official  cities  have  missionaries  (see  map,  inside  of  back  cover), 
while  the  total  number  of  communicants  is,  roughly,  1 0,000.  If  the 
120  male  missionaries  were  equally  distributed,  each  man  would 
have  a  parish  of  965  square  miles,  with  a  population  of  174,475 
souls.  This  is,  approximately,  equal  to  one  minister  to  the 
population  of  Bedfordshire,  residing  in  an  area  twice  as  large  as 
that  county ;  for  Bedford,  the  well-known  home  of  John  Bunyan, 
has  an  area  of  473  square  miles,  with  a  population  of  171,700. 

Let  one  of  these  unknown  parishes  of  Chihli — one  out  of 
120  similar  areas — be  compared  with  the  more  favoured  and 
far-famed  Bedfordshire.  Placing  the  figures  in  parallel  columns, 
they  are  as  follows : — 


Bedfordshire. 

One  Parish 
Tin  of  Chihli. 

Population 

Area  (sq.  miles) 

Ordained  Ministry 

Area  of  Parish  (sq.  miles)    . 

Population  of  Parish  . 

171,700 
473 
3101 

U 
554 

174,475 

965 

1 

965 

174.475 

From  these  figures  it  will  be  noted  that  the  proportion  is 
as  310  to  1  ;  for  while  the  Chinese  helpers  have  not  been 
mentioned,  they  are  more  than  equalled  by  the  army  of  local 
preachers  and  Sunday  School  teachers  in  the  home  country. 


The  Greatness  of  the  Soul 

•What  shall  we  say  to  these  things'?  Are  the  souls  of  the 
men  of  China  of  less  value  than  the  souls  in  Bedford  ?  What 
would  John  Bunyan  himself  say  1  Let  us  hear  his  estimate  of 
an  immortal  soul  as  revealed  in  his  little-known  work  entitled 
The  Gh'eatness  of  the  Soul  and  the  Unspeakableness  of  the  Loss  thereof. 
"  The  soul,"  said  John  Bunyan,  "  and  the  salvation  of  it,  are 
such  great,  such  wonderful  great  things  :  nothing  is  a  matter  of 
that  concern  as  is  and  should  be  the  soul  of  each  one  of  you. 

1  Being  206  clergy  with   135  ecclesiastical  parishes   and    104   Free  Church 
ministers  and  missioners.     Census  1901, 


Statde  of  John  Bunyan  in  Bedford. 

Bedfordshire,  John  Bunyan 's  county,  has  310  ordained  clergy  and  ministers.  The 
province  of  Chilili  has  120  parishes,  each  equal  in  population  to  Bedfordshire,  but 
each  with  only  one  ordained  minister.  The  area  of  each  parish  in  Bedfordshire  is 
lA  square  miles  ;  the  area  of  each  parish  in  Chihli  is  965  square  miles. 

To  face  page  52. 


CHINA'S  SPIRITUAL  DESTITUTION  53 

Houses  and  land,  trades  and  honours,  places  and  preferments, 
what  are  they  to  salvation,  to  the  salvation  of  the  soul  ?  .  .  . 

"If  ever  a  lamentation  was  fit  to  be  taken  up  in  this  age 
about,  for,  or  concerning  anything,  it  is  about,  for,  or  concerning 
the  horrid  neglect  that  everywhere  puts  forth  itself  with 
reference  to  eternal  salvation.  Where  is  one  man  of  a  thousand 
— yea,  where  are  there  two  of  ten  thousand  1 — that  do  show  by 
their  conversation,  public  and  private,  that  the  soul,  their  own 
souls,  are  considered  by  them  1  .  .  . 

"Solomon  tells  us  of  a  great  waster,  and  saith  also  that  he 
that  is  slothful  in  business  'is  brother  to  such  an  one.'  Who 
Solomon  had  his  eye  upon,  or  who  it  was  that  he  counted  so 
great  a  waster,  I  cannot  tell ;  but  I  will  challenge  all  the  world 
to  show  me  one  for  wasting  and  destroying  compared  to  him 
that,  for  the  lusts  and  pleasures  of  this  life,  will  hazard  the  loss 
of  his  soul. 

"I  have  heard  of  some  who  would  throw  away  a  farm,  a 
good  estate,  upon  the  trundling  of  one  single  bowl ;  but  what 
is  that  to  the  casting  away  of  the  soul  1  I  say  what  is  this 
to  the  loss  of  the  soul,  and  that  for  less  than  the  trundling  of  a 
bowl  ?  Nothing  can  for  badness  be  compared  to  sin ;  it  is  the 
vile  thing ;  it  cannot  have  a  worse  name  than  its  own ;  it  is 
worse  than  the  vilest  man,  than  the  vilest  of  beasts — yea,  sin  is 
worse  than  the  devil  himself,  for  it  is  sin,  and  sin  only,  that  hath 
made  the  devil's  devils ;  and  yet  for  this,  for  this  vile,  this 
abominable  thing,  some  men,  yea  most  men,  will  venture  the 
loss  of  their  soul — yea,  they  will  mortgage,  pawn,  and  sell  their 
souls  to  sale  for  it.  'Be  astonished,  0  ye  heavens,  at  this,  and 
be  ye  horribly  afraid.'  Yea,  let  all  the  angels  stand  amazed  at 
the  unaccountable  prodigality  of  such  an  one." 

Who  shall  say  what  Bedford  has  gained — yea,  what  the 
world  has  gained — through  John  Bunyan's  views  on  the  value 
of  the  soul  ?  The  value  of  the  soul  made  him  dream  of  the  one 
who  "wept  and  trembled,"  who  "broke  out  with  a  lamentable 
cry,  saying.  What  shall  I  do  to  be  saved,"  and  putting  his 
fingers  in  his  ears,  ran  on,  crying,  "  Life  !    Life  !    Eternal  Life  ! " 

The  value  of  the  human  soul  made  him  write  his  Holy  War, 


54  PRESENT-DAY  CONDITIONS  IN  CHINA 

and  tell  how  Prince  Emmanuel  could  say,  "  When  Mansoul  had 
sinned  indeed,  I  put  in  and  became  a  surety  to  My  Father,  body 
for  body,  and  soul  for  soul,  that  I  would  make  amends  for 
Mansoul's  transgressions ;  and  my  Father  did  accept  thereof. 
So  when  the  time  appointed  was  come,  I  gave  body  for  body, 
soul  for  soul,  life  for  life,  blood  for  blood,  and  so  redeemed  my 
beloved  Mansoul." 

Let  John  Bunyan  speak  to  us  of  the  value  of  the  human 
soul ;  let  Bedfordshire,  his  favoured  county,  with  its  more  than 
three  hundred  ordained  ministers  to-day,  by  its  very  contrast 
with  the  one  province  of  China  with  which  it  has  been  brought 
into  comparison,  have  a  message  for  us,  and  brace  us  to  more 
earnest  prayers  and  efforts,  that  those  who  dwell,  as  Pilgrim  did, 
in  the  City  of  Destruction,  may,  by  Evangelist,  be  pointed  to 
the  wicket  gate  and  to  the  Cross,  where  relief  from  the  burden 
of  sin,  and  the  joy  of  salvation,  may  be  found. 


ING    CHINESE    TURKESTAN) 
ies        Population    3,780.000 


' KANSU 

■  l3Stations 
61  Missionaries 
(topuiation  10.385,3 


CHIHLI 

i.  22  Stations 
JzeiMissic---^-- 
r    Bopulatic 
a0.937.OOO/ 


"SHANTUNG 

32Stations        *J 


'SZECHWAN 

4+ stations 
321  Missionaries 
pulation68.724.890< 


Population  3S.280.685 


I  HUNAN 

l9Stations 
IBBMissionarie: 
Populafi'on 
V  22.169.673 


tKIANGSI 

'36stations    . 


Y  U  N  NAN 

SStations 
43  Missionaries 
\  Population 

-        12,32+574- 


KWANGSI 


KWANGTUNG 


The  followii 
stating  the  totaU. 


;  table  gives  the  details  as  to  the  number  uf  men,  wives,  single  ladies,  and  stations  in  each  province  ;  tin-  ^hi\'  only 


Provlnct.             1  Men. 

Wiv... 

Single 
Ijwiieji. 

ToUl  No.  of 
Missionaries. 

Stations. 

Popnlation. 

Proviiife. 

•Men. 

Wives 

Single 
Ladies. 

Missionaries 

SUHons 

Popnlation. 

Aiilnvei 

66 

31 

33 

120 

20 

23,670,314 

Kwangtung     . 

23R 

165 

102 

495 

67 

31,865,251 

Cbekiaug 

113 

115 

90 

298 

68 

11,680,692 

Kweichow 

11 

S 

6 

24 

6 

7,650,282 

Ohihli   . 

107 

m 

68 

261 

22 

20,937,000 

Shansi    . 

59 

32 

38 

129 

34 

12,200,456 

Fukien  . 

104 

70 

186 

360 

110 

22,876,640 

Shantuug 

140 

97 

88 

325 

32 

38,247,900 

Honnti  . 

liO 

4.6 

30 

144 

29 

35,816,800 

Shensi 

31 

20 

25 

76 

30 

8,450,182 

Hniian  . 

H4 

4.i 

29 

1.58 

19 

22,169,673 

Szechwau 

140 

103 

7S 

321 

44 

68,724,890 

H.ipeh  , 

120 

DO 

60 

270 

31 

36,280,685 

Yimuan 

24 

13 

43 

9 

12,324,574 

Krmsii   , 

?B 

17 

18 

61 

13 

10,385,376 

Manchuria 

45 

30 

23 

98 

24 

8,500,000 

Kiiiiigsi 

50 

41 

67 

liiS 

36 

26,532,125 

Mongolia 

14 

8 

4 

26 

7 

3,780,000 

Ki.iiigsii 

199 

158 

165 

522 

31 

13,980.235 

(including  Siiikiang] 

Kwangsi 

14 

11 

» 

33 

9 

5,142,330 

Formosa 

13 

8 

6 

27 

7 

2,706,905 

Totals 

1648 

1163 

1138 

3949 

647 

422,321,210 

XI 


A   CALL   TO   SACRIFICE 

' '  We  must  serve  God  even  to  the  pain  of  suffering,  and  each  one  ask  him- 
self, '  In  what  degi-ee  am  I  extending  by  personal  suffering  and  self-denial  to 
the  point  of  pain  the  Kingdom  of  Christ?'  What  costs  little  is  worth 
little." — J.  Hudson  Taylok. 

On  the  map  inserted  here  will  be  found  a  careful  summary  of 
the  forces  at  work  in  China  and  their  present  disposition.  The 
following  table  shows  the  number  of  cities  still  without  resident 
missionaries : — 


Provinces. 

Net  Number  of  Cities 
in  Province. 

Cities  with 
Missionaries. 

Cities  without 
Missionaries., 

Kwangtung 
Fukien     . 

93 
60' 

29 
45 

64 
15 

Chekiang 
Kiangsu   . 

79  ' 
71 

52 
24 

27 

47 

Shantung 

107 

34 

73 

Chihli      . 

155 

23 

132 

Hupeh 
Kiangsi    . 
Anhwei    . 

69 
81 
60 

29 
34 
21 

40 

47 
39 

Honan 

106 

26 

80 

Hunan 

76 

19 

57 

Kansu 

104 

13 

91 

Shensi 

89 

26 

63 

Shansi 

101 

34 

67 

Szechwan 

414 

45 

369 

Yunnan    . 

80 

7 

73 

Kweichow 

134 

6 

128 

Kwangsi  . 
Sinkiang  . 

116 

38 

7 
2 

109 
36 

Total 

2033 

476 

1557 

55 


56  PRESENT-DAY  CONDITIONS  IN  CHINA 

These  are  facts  which  perhaps,  by  the  unimaginative  and 
the  callous,  may  be  lightly  dismissed  as  dry  statistics,  but  to 
the  serious  reader  they  cannot  but  afford  food  for  solemn 
reflection.  Nineteen  hundred  years  after  the  Lord  commis- 
sioned His  disciples  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature,  and 
one  hundred  years  after  Dr.  Morrison  began  his  work,  three- 
quarters  of  the  total  number  of  walled  cities  in  China  are 
still  not  occupied  as  central  stations  for  the  spread  of  the 
truth. 

Will  the  reader  look  carefully  into  the  maps  1  Let  the  thou- 
sands of  places  marked  speak  for  the  tens  of  thousands  which  no 
map  is  large  enough  to  show.  Let  him  think  of  each  place  as 
a  spot  where  thousands  are  born,  live,  and  die  "  without  a  hope 
to  cheer  the  tomb."  Let  him  think  of  the  missionary's  reflec- 
tions, "  sad  with  shades  of  awe  and  sorrow,"  as  he  passes  through 
or  by  these  places  where  thousands  dwell  without  hope  and 
without  God.  Above  all,  let  him  think  of  how  Christ,  who 
died  for  these  people  as  much  as  for  any,  must  regard  the 
apathy  and  culpable  neglect  of  those  who  have  been  entrusted 
with  the  Gospel. 

Never  have  Missions  been  so  carefully  studied  and  the  needs 
of  the  world  so  well  understood  as  to-day,  and  in  this  there  is 
cause  for  thankfulness.  Yet  this  fact  gives  rise  to  grave  fears, 
for  "  to  him  that  knoweth  to  do  good,  and  doeth  it  not,  to  him 
it  is  sin."  It  is  not  possible  to  see  the  need,  to  recognise  the 
responsibility,  to  hear  the  call,  to  feel  the  inward  movings  of 
sympathy,  and  then  to  allow  these  to  become  inoperative  without 
quenching  the  Spirit  of  God  within  and  allowing  the  spirit  of 
the  hypocrite  to  take  possession.  Better  not  to  have  known  the 
need  than  to  have  known  and  not  respond.  Better  not  to  have 
heard  the  call  than  to  have  heard  and  not  obey.  What  would 
be  thought  of  the  hardened  mortal  who  could  study  through  his 
glass  the  dangers  of  some  poor  inmates  in  a  house  on  fire  or 
shipwrecked  mariners  on  the  rocks,  and  yet  lend  no  helping  hand 
to  save  them  from  their  impending  doom.  Yet  is  it  not  true 
that  we  are  strangely  unmoved  when  the  loss  of  the  soul  is  at 
stake  and  not  the  body? 


A  CALL  TO  SACRIFICE  57 

"  Tell  me,"  wrote  the  late  Adolphe  Monod,  "  how  it  is  that 

you  and  I,  who  have  so  many  tears  for  physical  maladies,  tears 

for  family  disappointments,  tears  for  public  calamities,  find  their 

source  dried  up  when  we  contemplate  the  loss  of  souls,  and  of 

the  glory   of  God."     Do  we   not  need   to  pray  with   Charles 

Wesley : 

Enlarge,  inflame,  and  fill  my  heart 

With  boundless  charity  divine  ! 
So  shall  I  all  my  strength  exert, 

And  love  them  with  a  zeal  like  Thine  ; 
And  lead  them  to  Thy  open  side. 
The  sheep  for  whom  their  Shepherd  died  ? 

The  work  is  one  which  calls  for  consecrated  men  and  women 
to  go ;  for  consecrated  parents  to  devote  their  sons  and  daughters  ; 
and  for  all  who  can  to  give  and  pray. 

The  mother  of  Morosini,  the  best-loved  of  all  the  Lombard 
youths  who  stood  by  Garibaldi  at  the  defence  of  Rome,  said, 
when  urged  not  to  let  her  boy  go  to  the  war,  "I  give  my 
country  the  best  I  have,  my  onl}'^  and  dearly  loved  son."  She 
did  not  bargain  for  his  return.  It  was  in  such  mothers  and 
such  sons  that  Italy  revived. 

Garibaldi,  when  compelled  for  a  time  to  leave  Rome,  before 
the  overwhelming  forces  of  the  alien  armies,  appealed  to  those 
who  were  fighting  with  him  in  the  following  terms  :  "  I  am  going 
out  from  Rome.  Let  those  who  wish  to  continue  the  war 
against  the  stranger  come  with  me.  I  offer  neither  pay  nor 
quarters  nor  provisions ;  I  offer  hunger,  thirst,  forced  marches, 
battles,  and  death.  Let  him  who  loves  his  country  in  his  heart 
and  not  with  his  lips  only  follow  me."  Four  thousand  men 
sprang  to  his  side,  claiming  it  an  honour  to  follow  him  as  leader ; 
and  then  began  that  retreat  from  Rome,  that  prelude  to  ultimate 
victory,  which  will  ever  be  famous  in  the  annals  of  modern 
European  history. 

A  greater  than  Garibaldi,  in  a  greater  cause,  has  said,  "  If  any 
man  will  come  after  Me,  let  him  deny  himself,  and  take  up  his 
cross,  and  follow  Me."  And  He  has  promised  to  those  who 
leave  home  and  country  for  His  sake,  what  Garibaldi  could  not 


58  PRESENT-DAY  CONDITIONS  IN  CHINA 

offer,  even  an  hundred-fold  in  this  life,  and  eternal  life  in  the 
world  to  come. 

Shall  we  venture  less  for  the  Kingdom  of  God  than  patriot 
for  his  country  1  Shall  we  be  less  devoted  and  loyal  to  the 
King  of  Kings  than  the  soldier  to  his  leader  1  Unless  Calvary 
be  other  than  we  believe,  it  speaks  of  immeasurable  loss  to  the 
sinner  who  needs,  yet  knows  not  of  its  salvation ;  it  speaks  of 
unutterable  love  and  sacrifice  on  God's  part  to  make  such  salva- 
tion possible  to  man ;  and  it  appeals  with  deepest  pathos,  and 
yet  with  the  commanding  awe  of  God  Himself,  to  those  men  and 
women  who  profess  His  name  to  do  all,  and  to  count  no  sacrifice 
too  great,  to  let  this  mystery  of  Christ's  dying  love  be  made 
known  to  every  creature. 

Oh  let  Thy  love  my  heart  constrain  ! 

Thy  love  for  every  sinner  free, 
That  every  fallen  son  of  man 

May  taste  the  grace  that  found  out  me  ; 
That  all  mankind  with  me  may  prove 
Thy  sovereign  everlasting  love. 


Prhited  hy  R.  &  R.  Clark,  Limited,  Edinburgh. 


CHINA    INLAND    MISSION 

FOUNDED  1865. 

Founder:  The  Late  J.   HUDSON  TAYLOR,  M.R.C.S. 

General  Director :  D.    E.   HOSTE. 


OBJECT. 

THE  China  Inland  Mission  was  formed  under  a  deep  sense 
of  China's  pressing  need,  and  with  an  earnest  desire, 
constrained  by  the  love  of  Christ  and  the  hope  of  His  coming, 
to  obey  the  command  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature. 

CHARACTER. 

The  Mission  is  Evangelical,  and  embraces  members  of  all 
the  leading  denominations  of  Christians. 

METHODS. 

Duly  qualified  candidates  are  accepted  without  restriction 
as  to  denomination,  provided  they  are  sound  in  all  the  funda- 
mental truths  of  the  faith. 

All  missionaries  go  forth  in  dependence  upon  God  for 
supplies,  without  any  guarantee  of  income  from  the  Mission. 

The  Mission  is  entirely  supported  by  the  free-will  offerings 
of  God's  people,  no  personal  solicitation  or  collections  being 
authorised.  No  more  is  expended  than  is  thus  received,  going 
into  debt  being  considered  inconsistent  with  the  principle  of 
entire  dependence  upon  God. 

PROGRESS. 

On  1st  January  1907  there  were  in  connection  with  the 
Mission,  875  missionaries  and  associates  (including  wives),  988 
paid  Native  Helpers,  i.e.  Chinese  Pastors,  Assistant  Preachers, 
Chinese  School  Teachers,  Colporteurs,  and  Bible  Women  ;  also 
443  unpaid  Chinese  helpers,  16,969  communicants,  24,669 
having  been  baptized  from  the  commencement.  There  are  204 
stations,  719  out-stations,  915  chapels,  520  organised  churches, 
scholars  (boarding)  1501,  (day)  2157;  45  dispensaries,  106 
opium  refuges,  and  9  hospitals. 

"  Cbina'S  /llMlliOnS/*  the  organ  of  the  Mission,  pub- 
lished monthly.  Illustrated,  id.  ;  is.  6d.  or  50  cents  per 
annum,  post  free. 

Headquarters  of  the  Missioti. 

LONDON     .        .  .  Newington  Green,  N. 

PHILADELPHIA  .  335  W.  School  Lane,  Qermantown. 

TORONTO   .        .  .  507  Church  Street. 

MELBOURNE    .  .  267  Collins  Street. 

All  donations  and  other  correspondence  should  be  addressed  to  the 
Secretary,  at  any  of  the  above  addresses. 


DATE  DUE 


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BW8221.B87 

Present-day  conditions  in  China;  notes 

Princeton  Theological  Semlnary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  00018  8146 


